Lacerta Bilineata
Praying Mantis
European Praying Mantis | Mantis religiosa | 08-2022 | Ticino | Switzerland
My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...
More Ticino/Tessin Wildlife Photos (all taken in my garden in Monteggio/Ti, Switzerland): it.lacerta-bilineata.com/ramarro-occidentale-lacerta-bili...
My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (warning, it's a bit shocking): www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2-Xszz7FI
ABOUT THE PHOTO:
I originally titled the image above 'Pray, Love, Eat (Your Husband)' as a joking reference to a bestselling novel and to the name of the insect depicted in the photo as well as to the species' well-documented gruesome mating behavior. I changed it now, because I wanted to be sure nobody would take the title as a recommendation (let me be very clear: if you are in fact NOT a female praying mantis, please refrain from eating your husband - regardless how tempted you may be - I'm sure he will thank you later 😉).
To provide a bit of context how I got the shot, as most of you will be well aware, this past summer was rather hot in many parts of the world, and Ticino in Switzerland (where I take all my photos), was no exception. It was in fact exceptionally hot for a long period without any rain in sight, and so I found myself getting up every morning before sunrise to water the garden.
On one such occasion in late August I noticed the frantic movement of a rather large insect that was trying to get away from the splashing water drops. I immediately put the hose down and went to investigate. I could hardly believe my luck: it was a (in Switzerland very rare) European mantis, a species I hadn't seen in a long time in my garden (certainly not since my dear mother's ill-fated attempt to transform part of the garden into a "flowery meadow" - a sad anecdote you can read all about here IF you have the stomach for it: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/52177556047/in/datepo... )
The mantis had sought shelter from the water between the blooming phlox and was now resting completely motionless among the flower petals, and so I dropped everything and ran for my camera. Once I was back at the scene I realized to my horror that it was still far too dark to get a usable photo; I was sure my "rare prize" would fly away at any instant, but all I could do now was anxiously wait for the sun to come up.
Minute after agonizing minute went by (and Mrs Mantis made suspicious "I-think-I'm-going-to-leave-now" movements several times that had me hold my breath in utter terror), but finally my camera was satisfied with the available light, and once I had shot about 800 photos, I started to relax a little.
In the end, I couldn't have been happier; it had long been my hope that my little oasis of botanic chaos would attract this rare species, and that I even got to photograph it was a dream come true. And apparently I needn't have worried about it flying away; it was a female, and as I later read mantis ladies are in most cases too heavy to fly.
And they seem to be territorial (or at least this one was); to my delight, I would find Mrs Mantis either in the phlox plants or on the nearby hibiscus every day for the remainder of my holiday (here's a photo on the hibiscus: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/western-green-lizard-lacerta-bi... ), and so I got to photograph her plenty (suspiciouly there was never any sign of a Mr Mantis though...).
Anyway, many greetings and have a lovely weekend ahead everyone - and as always, let me know what you think in the comments 😊
Praying Mantis
European Praying Mantis | Mantis religiosa | 08-2022 | Ticino | Switzerland
My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...
More Ticino/Tessin Wildlife Photos (all taken in my garden in Monteggio/Ti, Switzerland): it.lacerta-bilineata.com/ramarro-occidentale-lacerta-bili...
My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (warning, it's a bit shocking): www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2-Xszz7FI
ABOUT THE PHOTO:
I originally titled the image above 'Pray, Love, Eat (Your Husband)' as a joking reference to a bestselling novel and to the name of the insect depicted in the photo as well as to the species' well-documented gruesome mating behavior. I changed it now, because I wanted to be sure nobody would take the title as a recommendation (let me be very clear: if you are in fact NOT a female praying mantis, please refrain from eating your husband - regardless how tempted you may be - I'm sure he will thank you later 😉).
To provide a bit of context how I got the shot, as most of you will be well aware, this past summer was rather hot in many parts of the world, and Ticino in Switzerland (where I take all my photos), was no exception. It was in fact exceptionally hot for a long period without any rain in sight, and so I found myself getting up every morning before sunrise to water the garden.
On one such occasion in late August I noticed the frantic movement of a rather large insect that was trying to get away from the splashing water drops. I immediately put the hose down and went to investigate. I could hardly believe my luck: it was a (in Switzerland very rare) European mantis, a species I hadn't seen in a long time in my garden (certainly not since my dear mother's ill-fated attempt to transform part of the garden into a "flowery meadow" - a sad anecdote you can read all about here IF you have the stomach for it: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/52177556047/in/datepo... )
The mantis had sought shelter from the water between the blooming phlox and was now resting completely motionless among the flower petals, and so I dropped everything and ran for my camera. Once I was back at the scene I realized to my horror that it was still far too dark to get a usable photo; I was sure my "rare prize" would fly away at any instant, but all I could do now was anxiously wait for the sun to come up.
Minute after agonizing minute went by (and Mrs Mantis made suspicious "I-think-I'm-going-to-leave-now" movements several times that had me hold my breath in utter terror), but finally my camera was satisfied with the available light, and once I had shot about 800 photos, I started to relax a little.
In the end, I couldn't have been happier; it had long been my hope that my little oasis of botanic chaos would attract this rare species, and that I even got to photograph it was a dream come true. And apparently I needn't have worried about it flying away; it was a female, and as I later read mantis ladies are in most cases too heavy to fly.
And they seem to be territorial (or at least this one was); to my delight, I would find Mrs Mantis either in the phlox plants or on the nearby hibiscus every day for the remainder of my holiday (here's a photo on the hibiscus: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/western-green-lizard-lacerta-bi... ), and so I got to photograph her plenty (suspiciouly there was never any sign of a Mr Mantis though...).
Anyway, many greetings and have a lovely weekend ahead everyone - and as always, let me know what you think in the comments 😊