- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Published on: September 9, 2021
You've probably read the children's book, "Where's Waldo?"
Waldo wanders around the world, gets lost in the crowd or scenery, and it's your job to find him. Where'd he go?
If you have a praying mantis in your yard, you probably play "Where's Waldo?" a lot.
In our yard, it's "Walda." She's a gravid (pregnant) praying mantis and she never stays in one spot for long.
Camouflaged in the bushes, motionless, and deep in "prayer," she's a lost cause.
And then you see where she is. The Stagmomantis limbata. The bushes stir, and the next thing you know, she's gripping a bee in her spiked forelegs.
Where's Walda?
Right there. Right there.
![](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/85948.jpg)
"Walda" snares a bee, probably a leafcutter bee, in a patch of milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
![Bad day for a bee, good day for a hungry praying mantis named Walda. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Bad day for a bee, good day for a hungry praying mantis named Walda. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/85950.jpg)
Bad day for a bee, good day for a hungry praying mantis named Walda. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
![Walda, the praying mantis, finishes her meal. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Walda, the praying mantis, finishes her meal. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/85951.jpg)
Walda, the praying mantis, finishes her meal. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
![The meal is over for Walda, the praying mantis, and it's time to groom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) The meal is over for Walda, the praying mantis, and it's time to groom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/85952.jpg)
The meal is over for Walda, the praying mantis, and it's time to groom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tags: bee (9), leafcutter bee (15), milkweed (55), praying mantis (130), Stagmomantis limbata (38), Walda (1), Waldo (1)
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