In the Hoophouse

My parents have a fantastic hoop house for growing vegetables year round.

There were a lot of praying mantises...manti?  They were so small, I had a heck of a time getting them into focus.

A young grasshopper on the left, a very young mantis on the right, enjoying the good weather in the spinach patch.

This is a praying mantis egg case.  The mantis is a carnivore, my parents introduced them to keep the veggie eating bug population down.  Unfortunately, they ate a lot of each other up as well.  A full grown mantis will even take on a scorpion!  Not that we have those in Ohio...

Other insects get into the hoop house as well and need help getting out...

                                              

                                              ...which is when this comes in handy.