Good to see it wants to eat. Don't they usually die around this time of year? I wish I knew why dying insects always want to come inside my house. Last week I had to relocate a praying mantis and last night it was a dragon fly.

Lars, 3rd photo -- great shot! Wish I had some praying mantis when aphids come around. Do they also eat whitefly?

I too don't use up all the bay leaves; I do keep some dry in a jar, use some fresh, and give away some leaves. I've taken small branches to our church and there has been takers who cook a lot with bay.

I have not seen much in the way of things for it to eat on my bay tree - even at the tips where there are a few webs. Anyway, he seems to have moved on. I have a lot more ladybugs than mantis, and they seem to keep aphids in check, as I do not have those either.

I do not bother keeping dry bay leaves, as I always have plenty of fresh ones and not the space to store the dried one. I've heard that bay leaves are supposed to repel pantry moths, but I don't have those at this time.

I prefer to use my bay leaves fresh, so never bother to dry them. It sure is nice to be able to just walk over and pick them when needed. Mine is in a container, and does great in it's hot location near the a/c. Pest insects seem to avoid bay trees. If they didn't get so huge in the ground, I would plant it out. Wish it was a shrub, rather than a tree.

I mostly use fresh leaves, but like to keep some dry when I get lazy or the weather is bad to go outside. I do put leaves in my my rice and pasta canisters just in case. I've had my tree just under 20 years growing in a pot and the roots have gone into the ground. I don't let it get very tall.

Pests also avoid my cherimoya tree, as the leaves are poisonous, as is the peeling of the fruit. I don't have to worry about squirrels or anything else eating my cherimoya, and the bug that is on the bay tree is not eating the leaves but merely using them to make something sort of like a cocoon. I've been washing off those parts of the tree, but in some cases, I have had to cut off the ends.

Mantis come in various colors, green, brown, and that shown in your photo. That is a female--the back end is larger and wider. The males are long and skinny for the entire length.

Perhaps the female laid some eggs and you will have ravenous baby mantis next year, keeping your plants healthy and clean of pests.

That is good news! I did not know whether it was male or female, and so I hope she did lay some eggs somewhere in my yard. Maybe she thought the bay tree was a safe place for eggs.

The ootheca is easy to see. I don't know how they choose their sites--have seen them on plant stems, block walls, and even once on our living room curtain. They don't hatch for months. It helps to protect the ootheca from ants as hatching time approaches. I have seen swarms of ants attacking the youngsters as they emerge from the ootheca.

In this instance, there were so many young that many survived.

But some individuals got early life lessons.

I use dried bay leaves in my pantry, I tuck a couple in corners, just in case to keep pests away. its too late when the pests take up residence. i forget exactly what pests but i've always done this. i just pick and dry some from my bay laurel shrub. i also dry some to give away , its going to start getting cold so moms, dads, grandpa or grandma, and friends will be making soups and stews , so a gift of freshly dried bay leaves will be a welcome surprise.

my son has raised a mantis since it was a couple of inches long at an inner city school he works at and some of the students had never seen a praying mantis, they watch it eat flies and bugs and ask questions ,

Watch for the mantis' egg case. I find them in a warm place but not exposed to too much sun. They preferred the back side of a wooden trellis on a sunny west or south side of the house. I never found them on the cooler north or east walls. They will also be on the north sides of branches in warm areas. Little mantises are so cute and lively.

The mantis has moved to one of my chili plants and has been there for the past three days, pretty much in the same place on the plant.

Photo from Oct 10.

Photo from today (Oct 12)
I found some harmful bugs at the bottom of the chili plant and removed them, as she does not appear to be going to that part of the plant. I'm going to have to check my other chili plants and make sure they are not getting pests either, but normally I do not have any on them.

In this photo (Oct 10), she turned her head to look at me while I was photographing her.

I doubt she would want to lay eggs on the chili plant, as chili plants are not as permanent as the Bay tree, but it might be a better place for young to find food.

She's probably looking for food - she's very pregnant, and she's eating for 250. I don't know if Praying Mantis' know the difference between an annual or a perennial regarding egg laying spots. . .we see most of ours on houses and fences.