able. Some individuals are all brown or green; others are mottled 
or multicolored with dark or light shades of grays, greens, reds, 
or brown. Newly-hatched nymphs are pale green, about 8 mm. 
long, and look like miniature adults. The egg is very hard, oval, 
seedlike, shiny black or brown, and has a broad white or olive- 
colored band on one edge. It is about 2 mm. long. 
Winter is spent in the egg stage and hatching occurs in May or 
early June. The nymphs feed at first on shrubs such as sweet fern, 
blueberry, strawberry, and juneberry. Later, they feed on leaves 
of the same trees as the adults. Adults emerge in July or August 
and feed and lay eggs until the onset of cold weather. In heavily 
infested stands, the sound of falling eggs striking the ground is 
much like that produced by raindrops in a light shower. In the 
South most of the eggs hatch the following year; in the North 
most hatch the second spring following their deposition. 
Severe outbreaks occur frequently in the Lake States. They also 
occur occasionally south of a line drawn from Nebraska to Dela- 
ware. Trees may be defoliated twice in the same season during 
severe outbreaks. Branch mortality sometimes occurs in stands 
heavily defoliated three or four times; continued defoliation for 
several years may lead to considerable tree mortality (304). The 
COURTESY CONN. AGR. EXPT. STA. 
FIGURE 10.—Adult and egg 
mass of the Chinese man- 
tid, Tenodera aridifolia 
sinensis. 
