Mantis Gallery
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I was with my neighbor on the porch today and this big insect landed on the porch post. It was about 6" long! I had enough time to take a photo. (very cropped)
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 😊
Mantis religiosa
Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera
La Mantide religiosa (Mantis religiosa LINNAEUS, 1758), denominata anche mantide europea è una delle specie più comuni dell'ordine Mantodea. Le mantidi sono originarie dell'Africa, da cui si diffusero rapidamente nell'Europa meridionale e all'Asia minore. Si è diffusa anche in Nord America a partire dal 1899, forse importata accidentalmente con un carico di piante da vivaio.
La loro diffusione dipende soprattutto dalla richiesta di alte temperature. La loro presenza è infatti notevolmente inferiore nell'Europa centrale e quasi inesistente nell'Europa del Nord. In Germania sono considerati animali protetti e la loro cattura è vietata.
In Italia è abbastanza comune in tutto il territorio, dalle zone prealpine sino alla fascia costiera, isole comprese. Le neanidi della mantide in natura nascono in maggio/giugno, per diventare adulte nel mese di agosto. Le uova vengono deposte in ooteche, prodotte dalla femmina, durante la stagione fredda. Ogni ooteca contiene in media 60-70 uova e può arrivare fino a 200.
L'accoppiamento delle mantidi è caratterizzato da cannibalismo post-nuziale: la femmina, dopo essersi accoppiata, o anche durante l'atto, divora il maschio partendo dalla testa mentre gli organi genitali proseguono nell'accoppiamento. Questo comportamento è dovuto al bisogno di proteine, necessarie ad una rapida produzione di uova; prova ne è che la femmina d'allevamento, essendo ben nutrita, sovente "risparmia" il maschio.
Si nutrono di mosche, grilli e altri piccoli insetti.
Sanno camuffarsi facilmente tra le foglie, dove aspettano immobili le loro prede. Per difendersi dagli attacchi di insetti antagonisti la mantide apre di scatto le proprie ali per sembrare più grande
This tiny praying mantis was hanging out on the table outside at our friend’s house. To ensure his longevity I decided to move him to a safer place in the trees. When I put my hand out he happily walked on and of course photos had to be taken (which weren't entirely easy with only one hand available!).
I was blown away with his amazing movements which were also rather entertaining. He started on a walk up my arm, stopping for a quick prayer then some crazy head twisting. I’m pretty sure it turned 180° for cleaning (I think) or maybe he just enjoy contorting his body! In one photo he is barely recognisable as a praying mantis.
When I went to put him on a tree he wasn't terribly happy to go. After I had encouraged him to get on the plant he stretched out towards me almost like he didn’t want me to go. So I put my hand out again and what do you know he leapt back onto me. I had a new friend! And I found out that praying mantis can jump.
Eventually I had to socialise with humans so found another tree and encouraged him to alight again then wished him a fond farewell. Feeling uplifted by the experience.
Mante religieuse - Mantis religiosa - European mantis
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mante_religieuse
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_mantis
"T'as pas vu une antenne qui trainait, par hasard ?"
"You didn’t see an antenna hanging around, did you?"
July 2022 - edited and uploaded 2022/07/28
A green Praying Mantis. This is a Chinese Mantid or Mantis (Tenodera aridfolia sinensis). It didn't mind posing for me. I think this is a female. It's about 4 inches long with the wings covering the entire back. #Tier #animal #insect #PrayingMantis #ChinesePrayingMantis #mantid #macro #Makro #green #grun #vert #カマキリ
Muchas gracias por vuestras visitas y comentarios
Un montón de besos ¡¡
Thank you for your visits and comments
Kisses
A young male praying mantis I found yesterday morning. There are some I find that are very skittish, that bolt as soon as I put my hand near them. And then there are some that are very social with me, like this guy here. I saw him hanging out on an ivy leaf, put my hand in front of him, and he walked on and just chilled. Please view large.
One thing I love seeing is the way mantises turn their heads. When my dog would come running over, his head would swivel and watch the dog go by....very cool. They could actually turn their heads completely around :-)
Hope everyone is having a great week! And for anyone dealing with a heatwave like we are in southern New England...try and stay cool ;-)
Have a wonderful Wednesday, my friends :-)
Mantodea (or mantises, mantes) is an order of insects that contains over 2,400 species and about 430 genera in 15 families worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. Most of the species are in the family Mantidae.
The English common name for the order is the mantises, or rarely (using a Latinized plural of Greek mantis), the mantes. The name mantid refers only to members of the family Mantidae, which was, historically, the only family in the Order, but with 14 additional families recognized in recent decades, this term can be confusing. The other common name, often applied to any species in the order, is "praying mantis", because of the typical "prayer-like" posture with folded fore-limbs, although the eggcorn "preying mantis" is sometimes used in reference to their predatory habits. In Europe and other regions, however, the name "praying mantis" refers to only a single species, Mantis religiosa. The closest relatives of mantises are the termites and cockroaches (order Blattodea). They are sometimes confused with phasmids (stick/leaf insects) and other elongated insects such as grasshoppers and crickets, or other insects with raptorial forelegs such as mantisflies.
This little creature spent a few days on our front porch. Well it wasn't so little - measuring about 10cm long. We found it's shell discarded nearby so it was just readying it's new skin before travelling off on new adventures.
Taken with a vintage Canon FD 100mm macro lens connected to my DSLR - haven't used this camera/ lens combination for a long time.
Praying Mantis
I am seeing so many Mantids around the garden this season. This one was on a leaf of the Pittosporum tree today.
South African Mantis are usually green but you do see some brown ones. This year finding a fare few pinkish one and some rather fetching yellow ones. The pink ones are very hard to spot amongst the autumnal leaves.
A large greenish-brownish predatory insect with long forelegs that are raised and folded at rest as if in prayer.
Mantodea (or mantises, mantes) is an order of insects that contains over 2,400 species and about 430 genera in 15 families worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. Most of the species are in the family Mantidae.
The English common name for the order is the mantises, or rarely (using a Latinized plural of Greek mantis), the mantes. The name mantid refers only to members of the family Mantidae, which was, historically, the only family in the Order, but with 14 additional families recognized in recent decades, this term can be confusing. The other common name, often applied to any species in the order, is "praying mantis", because of the typical "prayer-like" posture with folded fore-limbs, although the eggcorn "preying mantis" is sometimes used in reference to their predatory habits. In Europe and other regions, however, the name "praying mantis" refers to only a single species, Mantis religiosa. The closest relatives of mantises are the termites and cockroaches (order Blattodea). They are sometimes confused with phasmids (stick/leaf insects) and other elongated insects such as grasshoppers and crickets, or other insects with raptorial forelegs such as mantisflies.