Posts Tagged: Praying mantis

Praying or Preying or Peering

Praying, preying, or peering? This female praying mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata, selects a patch of red Lantana to watch for pollinators. Her spiked forelegs resting, her eyes always watching but her body as still as a stone, she makes an...

A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, poses for a portrait in a Lantana patch in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, poses for a portrait in a Lantana patch in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Jackie-in-the-Box

In your childhood, somebody probably gave you a jack-in-the-box toy, a music box that you crank up, and then the lid springs opens and out pops a wildly dressed clown, startling you and everyone around you. A praying mantis sighting is something...

A female praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, pops up between the petals of a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. Surprise! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, pops up between the petals of a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. Surprise! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Bee and the Mantis

So here's this praying mantis, a female Mantis religiosa, tucked beneath a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville garden. She's as still as a stone, and you know how still stones are. Along comes a honey bee,...

A honey bee forages on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, as a female praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, perches below. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee forages on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, as a female praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, perches below. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Just Dropping by to Say 'Hello'

A praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, stretches beneath a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville garden. Ms. Mantis: (Startled to see she is not alone) "Well, hello, there! How are ya? I'm just dropping by to say...

A praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, stretches beneath a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, stretches beneath a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Meet a Male Mantis in a Patch of Blanket Flowers

So there he is, a praying mantis in a patch of blanket flowers, Gaillardia, in a Vacaville garden. He's a male Mantis religiosa, as slim as a string bean, and scanning his environment. We're accustomed to seeing see the native...

The male Mantis religiosa, investigates his surroundings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The male Mantis religiosa, investigates his surroundings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Oh, I think I'll go this way. The male praying mantis changes directions. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Oh, I think I'll go this way. The male praying mantis changes directions. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The male mantis does an Olympic-style stretch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The male mantis does an Olympic-style stretch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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