Families Warned To Check for 'Walnut Sized' Mass on Christmas Trees - Contains Hundreds of Eggs
Ohio’s Erie County warned residents in a public service announcement Tuesday to check their Christmas trees for a “walnut sized” mass that actually contains hundreds of praying mantis eggs.
The picture, which was originally posted by a Facebook user in December 2017, portrays what appears to be an inconspicuous pine cone.
However, the user warned that it was actually a mass full of praying mantis eggs.
“If you happen to see a walnut sized/shaped egg mass, on your Christmas tree, don’t fret, clip the branch and put it in your garden. These are 100-200 preying mantis eggs!” the post read.
The user said he had found two of these masses on his tree that year.
“Don’t bring them inside they will hatch and starve!” he said.
Erie County picked up on the warning and shared it with residents via Facebook:
However, finding these masses in your tree is a rare occurrence.
On Wednesday, Snopes referenced an article from the University of Illinois Extension to calm people’s fears.
“These Christmas tree post-harvest pests,” horticulture educator Chris Enroth wrote earlier this month, referring to a variety of bugs, “are rare, occurring in 1 out of 100,000 cut trees.”
Many Christmas tree farmers use “a pest management system called Integrated Pest Management” to make sure praying mantises don’t leave the property, Doug Hundley, a seasonal spokesperson for the National Christmas Tree Association, told Snopes.
“Using IPM [farmers] scout their Christmas tree plantings regularly for pests that are interfering with the health of the trees and to prevent what we call post-harvest pests or harmless hitchhikers,” Hundley said.
Musician Taylor Swift spent part of her childhood on a Christmas tree Farm, and according to a biography of the pop singer, she used to check trees for praying mantis eggs.
But even if a cluster of eggs does make its way into your home, the eggs are unlikely to spread very far from the tree.
“Yes, it is true that Christmas trees can harbor dormant pests that become active after being exposed to the warm indoor temperatures, but most of these pests will remain on the tree, while only a few might find their way to your windowsills,” Enroth wrote.
Some Facebook users have shared stories of their own encounters with these masses full of praying mantis eggs.
“In 2nd grade, fellow student brought this to school for the teacher to identify,” one commenter wrote this week under the original 2017 post. “She forgot about it and we all went home. On Monday,we had praying mantis a is everywhere and we a had to catch them and put them outside because they were protected!”
“I had one hatch one year after the tree had been in the house for about a week…had thousands of baby praying mantises in every branch tip! They were adorable but had to succumb to the vacuum cleaner!” another added.
Enroth said people who find insects on their trees can always return them.
“Remember, if you do have serious insect pest problems on your Christmas tree, you can always take it back to the supplier and ask for a refund or exchange,” he wrote.
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