Mantis

Again, today was spent stalking the bushes and bloom heads for mantids. I found more white spiders, one with a moth hanging from its jaws and finally, I found not one, but three mantids, two flower mantids and this green.

The green actually is one of the larger mantids that I see. This one is over three inches long and is only a juvenile, as can be seen by the under developed wings, yes, mantids can fly!

I got down on one knee for this shot, to jazz it up with a bit of sky. I love photographing preying mantids, they are so amenable. You can wag your finger and get them to stare into the lens. You can move them around to get a suitable viewing angle, just don't panic when it runs up your arm, like it did when Esta was here!

You will notice that it is hanging from the same flower head that the white spider occupies and also the flower mantis, as I mentioned yesterday, a dangerous bloom to get your nectar fix!

I will have to put out my mantis collection in a slideshow one day, I have collected over sixty images in the last ten weeks.

Another very successful safari with eighteen images to pick from, all in only an hour. I was back home just after 07:30am.

Competition update - I did not make the prizes but have been selected for the exhibition. They have invited me to attend, but that's not going to happen unfortunately.

Dave