Posts Tagged: Stagmomantis limbata

A Conversation in the Flower Bed

Date: Sept. 9, 2023Location: A flower bed in Vacaville, Calif. Mantis: “Hi, it's me, your favorite praying mantis! I just popped in to say hello!”  Photographer: “Well, hello there, Ms. Stagmomantis limbata, but I think you have...

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Mantis vs. a Monarch

Can a praying mantis catch a monarch? Yes, it can. And yes, it does. It was Sept. 14, 2013.  As I approached a Vacaville supermarket, I noticed pink lantana blooming furiously near the entrance, and then, a familiar-looking butterfly...

A monarch sips nectar from lantana near a Vacaville supermarket. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A monarch sips nectar from lantana near a Vacaville supermarket. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, ambushes the monarch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, ambushes the monarch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The predator clutches the monarch with its spiked forelegs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The predator clutches the monarch with its spiked forelegs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Last Goodbye

So there she is, a gnarly-looking praying mantis, the last of the season, and on her last legs. Last spiked forelegs? From her perch on a cactus in a Vacaville garden, this Stagmomantis limbata is neither praying nor preying. She is staring....

A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, stares at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, stares at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's Green Friday

Today is Black Friday, a day that marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. It's reportedly the busiest shopping day of the year. But to us, today is Green Friday, in recognition of a female green praying mantis,Stagmomantis...

A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, rests on a cactus in Vacaville. She's the last of the season. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, rests on a cactus in Vacaville. She's the last of the season. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Praying Mantis Ponders The End of Daylight Savings Time

Human: "It's the end of Daylight Savings Time!" Praying Mantis: "The end of Daylight Savings Time? Does that mean I have to stop scaring the livin' daylights out of a bee?"Human: "No, it's when we humans set the clocks forward by one hour in the spring,...

A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, ponders Daylight Savings Time. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, ponders Daylight Savings Time. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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