Guest Photo by Fernymoss: Steppin' Out

Photo Courtesy of Fernymoss

Taken 16 August 2007.

While we're at it with the Praying Mantis pictures, I thought I'd just do a quick post of another shot Fernymoss got after we brought the new guy (still unnamed) home. In the comments several of you likened him to a belle in a poofy dress preparing for a night out, which I have to admit hadn't really entered our minds, but hey, what you see in a photo is what you see! But now that you mention it ... that spent Bee Balm bloom does suggest it ... so, with all preparations and ablutions completed, here we see him heading out to find a good lookout spot for prey.

We're hoping that the spot in the back corner bed will provide well for him and encourage him to stick around, especially now that I did a spot of research on them here at Wikipedia. I hadn't known previously that there are some 2000 species of Mantids in the world, of which 20 are native to North America. Basically about all I knew was that they were a generally beneficial insect to have in the garden and that they will eat just about anything they can catch, including members of their own species. And when you get a close look at that mouth, you can definitely see you wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of its attentions ... check out the Wikipedia link for a lot of fascinating facts about them, as well as photos of some really spectacular species (the Costa Rican 'Tropical Shield Mantis' was a real wowie for me). If you're a fan of 50's sci-fi (hello, FM?), for giggles and thrills you might want to investigate the 'classic' Universal Pictures cheeseball The Deadly Mantis, which I recall seeing as a kid and being singularly unimpressed. I used to be all over all of those radioactive or reanimated mutants, but I still have to admit that though some of the U.S. films were great fun, Godzilla and especially Mothra were and are still my favorites!