Missing: One Egg Sac

A week ago this praying mantis was hanging out on my fence. A couple days later I noticed an egg sac in the same spot.

Then yesterday one of the neighbor kids was playing and got a bunch of dust in his eyes. He was crying so I brought him in my yard and washed his face and hands.

Afterwards a whole group of the neighbor kids came into my yard to check it out. And since it is Malawi, they immediately fell upon some leaves and tree debris that were laying on my porch and started sweeping it with their hands. I tried to stop them, but they were laughing and then it was done so quickly. Kusesa (sweeping) is very important here. For me though, I don't get too fussed about it since it is in my enclosed yard so nobody can see it anyways. Until now... : )

On the way out, one of the boys took the egg sac off the fence and carried it away before I could stop him. He called it an mbodzi, which means caterpillar.

Poor Mama Mantis.