The festive season is underway and with the tradition of decking out Christmas trees comes a warning – your tree could be harbouring insect eggs.
In what has become a seasonal cautionary tale, those looking forward to celebrating might find more than baubles and tinsel in the branches.
If there’s a brown, hard mass resembling a pine cone lurking in your tree, it may be a praying mantis egg sac capable of housing 100-200 eggs.
Real Christmas trees are vulnerable as the camouflaged end-of-branch spots can harbour these sacs which, thanks to the cosy warmth of our homes, could hatch into hundreds of insects.
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