Before I went fishing on 8/22, I checked one bush in the backyard to see if any mantises were around. I immediately spotted this one, which had just caught a small butterfly (it was still wiggling) and was starting to eat it:
Here, he stopped long enough to look at me:
And then I spotted this brown one on the same bush about 3 feet away:
A bit further on, was this one hanging underneath a flower pod:
I walked around to the far side of the bush, and saw this pair of grasshoppers:
About 15 inches away, they were being watched by this one:
You have my interest! I love those intelligent insects. We gently handle them, my grandkids and I, and marvel at their camo, their habit of moving that traingular head to see you better, and their gentle personality. Though, one egg laden female once threw up her legs, which have eye spots, and hissed at us. We left her alone. Nice pictures!
ReplyDeleteGregg
Thanks, Gregg!
ReplyDeletePraying Mantises are COOL creatures! I love having them around the yard.
I think there are two types of Mantises in our area. One (I think) is a Carolina mantis, and the other is a Chinese mantis. The Chinese Mantis is larger...it may have the eyespots you mentioned...but I'm not sure. Nearly all the ones in our yard seem to be the Carolina species (totally just guessing about this). I've seen some HUGE mantises around, but they seem to be different than the ones I typically find in our yard.
I've seen pictures of Mantises that have caught/killed hummingbirds! We DO have a few hummingbirds visit the flowers on the Honeysuckle Vines and Hummingbird Vines in our yard every day...so I guess I'm not too disappointed if we don't have many of the LARGER mantises. :)