It’s about 1 cm long.
My girlfriend and I have been sitting here staring at it, trying to understand what it is.
Does anyone know what this could be?
What is it?
Tang Piao Xiao (Mantis Egg Case): A Valuable Traditional Chinese Medicinal Material
Tang Piao Xiao is a well-known traditional medicinal substance used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for centuries.
Although the name may sound unfamiliar to many people, it is actually the dried egg case, or ootheca, produced by praying mantises on trees, particularly mulberry trees. In traditional medicine, Tang Piao Xiao has long been regarded as a precious remedy due to its association with the treatment of various urinary and reproductive disorders.
Because of its rarity, unique origin, and historical medicinal importance, it has often been described as being “as valuable as gold” among traditional herbal practitioners.
What Is Tang Piao Xiao?
Tang Piao Xiao is the dried egg sac of certain species of praying mantis. Female mantises produce a protective foamy secretion that hardens into a capsule-like structure after being attached to branches, twigs, fences, rocks, or tree trunks. Inside this capsule are dozens or even hundreds of eggs that will eventually hatch into young mantises.
In traditional medicine, the egg case is collected before the eggs hatch. It is then cleaned, dried, and processed for medicinal use.
The medicinal material is commonly harvested from mantises that inhabit:
- Mulberry trees
- Fruit trees
- Shrubs
- Forest vegetation
- Agricultural fields
The association with mulberry trees is particularly strong in East Asian medicine, which is why Tang Piao Xiao is often linked with the mulberry-growing regions where silkworm cultivation was historically common.
