While sweeping the leaves and acorns off the front drive yesterday (a wasted effort thanks to an unexpected late afternoon thunderstorm) I spotted a flash of green next to the porch. It was a large praying mantis, not exactly rare in these parts but also not an everyday occurrence.
Mantids are cool insects to have around, as they are actually fast enough to eat mosquitos and flies.
I made a mental note to return with my camera, but got distracted for a moment (“oh look…a baby squirrel…”) and when I did return, the insect was gone.
Well, if you know mantids (and I know that you do), they’re slow-moving except when on attack, so I figured he was still in the vicinity. I inspected the adjacent shrubbery for a few minutes and was just about to give up when he came into view on the brick wall behind a bush, climbing towards the roof.
I put the camera into macro mode, on manual focus and took a couple of shots. This one turned out pretty well, I think, considering my overall lack of photographic skill.
I could be wrong, but isn’t that expression on his “face” the same one Brad Pitt reserves for paparazzi?
I noticed that he was climbing in an unusual halting, swaying motion. He would take a step, sway back and forth a couple of times, then take another step or two. I wish I’d stuck around a bit longer to see what he was up to, because later that afternoon, I noticed this under the eave of the house.
Apparently, that halting gait was a sign of labor contractions (?!). Yep, it turns out that “he” is really a “she,” as evidenced by the egg case she deposited after I left. I had no idea of their gestation period, but according to this website, next spring I should have my own personal herd of teeny mantids. I hope I’m present when they hatch; those first few moments are so critical to the long-term bonding process.
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Clearly you don’t build enough fence 🙂
There are several different sorts of stick insects. The mantises, such as you show here, are fairly rare around here, too (“here” being Mineral Wells).
But the more “stick”-like ones, without the swelled bodies of the mantises, live in the mesquites and live oaks. As I’ve been fence-building this summer I’ve encountered two kinds, one green and one more or less yellow. They’re enough different that I don’t think they’re the same ones at different times of life, but I don’t know much about insects.
None of the ones I’ve met bite, or at least they don’t bite me. One day I had a green one sit on my shoulder for ten minutes or so. Since I was using a rock-bar and single-jack to get through sandstone for a post hole at the time, I thought that remarkable. I didn’t name it, though.
They do tickle when they walk up your neck.
Regards,
Ric Locke
You’re a lucky guy, Eric!
I’ve bought egg cases several times from garden suppliers and the local bird (maybe even squirrel) population finds them every time with disastrous results to the inhabitants.
I’ll have to try “under the eaves” next spring.
Ric, coincidentally, I spotted a Walking Stick last weekend during my visit to Fort Stockton. They are really fascinating creatures. Here’s a great site about them.
Glad to hear from Mineral Wells; drop back in anytime!
Mr. Freen, I have no idea if these little guys will survive any better than yours. I hope they do; they’re great for keeping the aphid population under control.
Loved your praying mantis pic! In Tennessee once, in a fit of young adult stupidity, I took a mantis case inside and placed it on a bookshelf early in the spring, not realizing that the little guys might think it was spring inside the house. We had baby ones hatching all over the room and a lot of them died. I felt so bad. We saved the ones we could, but of course it was early spring and I doubt they survived outside because it was still cold. It taught me a lesson about messing with Mother Nature. I hope you guys get to see a nice healthy brood of little ones in the spring!
Deb, thanks for the cautionary tale. I never would have thought about the possibility of inducing premature hatching…but, then, I never would have considered the possibility of bringing a mantid egg case into the house. 😉