Praying mantises under Christmas tree infest Virginia home

A Virginia woman had to deal with more than 100 praying mantises that got loose from a box under her Christmas tree, WJLA reported.

“Bugs,” Molly Kreuze, of Springfield, told the television station. “Crawling on the walls, crawling on the ceilings. Just kind of moving.”

The insects got loose from a brown egg-case that was under the tree's branches, WJLA reported.

Kreuze, who is a veterinarian, has been using a box and envelope to catch the critters. She is feeding the captured bugs fruit flies and wants to find a home for them.

“In my Googling, I discovered people really like praying mantises,” Kreuze told the television station. “They are useful, they eat other bugs, people use them for organic gardening.

“I hope to find them a home. I don’t want them.”