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Posts Tagged: praying mantis
A Mantis on the Milkweed
So here's this immature praying mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata, perched on a narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis, in a Vacaville pollinator garden. She's camouflaged quite well. She's as green and thin as the leaves. Me: "Hey, Ms....
A camouflaged praying mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata, perched on a narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Praying mantis perched on a milkweed, the host plant for monarchs. She seems to be saying: "Sure, I'm occupying a milkweed, but I promise I'll never even LOOK at a monarch. I'll close my eyes should one flutter by." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The mantis keeps an eye out for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The mantis assumes the prayerful position--let us prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ootheca! Ootheca! Ootheca!
If you've been pruning bushes or trees, check to see if a praying mantis egg case (ootheca) is attached to a limb. If you do, you're in luck! A mantis deposits her egg case in late summer or fall, and usually on twigs, stems, a wooden stake...
An egg case or ootheca of a praying mantis. Mama, a Stagmomantis limbata, deposited it on a redbud tree.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What's that on the clothespin? An ootheca or praying mantis egg case. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
About 150 nymphs emerged April 9, 2022 from this ootheca deposited on a clothespin. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, waiting for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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)
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 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)
