For weeks I've been watching this strange deposit on my patio wall assuming it was some sort of caterpillar. Today I was lucky enough to catch the actual even. (thanks spring break)
Not a caterpillar. Iris Oratoria, a Mediterranean Praying Mantis. Dozens of the little cuties about the length of a grain of rice, but much thinner.
I read online that they usually pick one plant to live on for life, so with the help of my friend Aspen we managed to get two newly hatched babies onto one of my trees in the vain hope they will choose to live there.
I'll likely never see the little buggers again, but it was fairly cool watching them squish out of the shell and flicker about until they "dried".
Sorry I didn't get any actual "birth" shots because it was actually fairly cool and gross at the same time.
4 comments:
Two posts in one week! Girl you are getting out of control!
That is supper cool. I bet they are adorable. You know how I like little things. That would be sweet if they created like a little colony in your back yard.
I was thinking about you today! Love you the most!
The question is, are they helpful bugs? Don't really know anything about praying manti. I would assume they were otherwise why would you want them to hang around. Sounds like they were pretty tiny so kudos on the great photography work!!
That is right up your alley. I have heard of people buying praying mantis as a natural insecticide. Hope they stay. Good to hear from you. Still waiting to get a computer I can store pictures on to blog. All we have working right now is Connor's laptop
That is amazing! So glad you have a nice camera :) Emily liked this, too. She thought is was soooo cool.
I like the last picture. He looks like such a happy little preying mantis :)
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