Hi Pentaxian friends,
Boy's mind:"I knew I could win her...It's gonna be a good day!" Girl's mind: "That's all they think about. What will my mother say if she finds out? I might just bite his head off". (Again, not all that much different than humans.)
About a year ago, I was amazed at a female Preying Mantis spreading her wings. From what I've heard, in the fall, this is the mating dance the female Preying Mantis performs but I've also heard that it is a defence position. Note that the females are green and the males are brown. The males are usually smaller.
The female is green and her wings are colorful.
The male is brown and usually smaller.
Today, we found two Preying Mantis hiding in the bushes outside our business place. I extended my hand close to the female and she jumped on my hand and stayed there. I then extended my hand toward a male Preying Mantis and miraculously he jumped on my hand as well. Now, it is almost fall and fall is the mating season.
With my free hand, I called my wife on my cell phone and asked her to get my K20D right away. She did and with my free hand , I took the following pictures. It was a bit difficult to handle the K20D/Grip with one hand, and the images are not tacky sharp as I would have liked them to be, but there is a story here. The DA 16-45mm was mounted on the camera and I had no time to change it for a close-up lens. If the old saying "A picture is worth a thousand words" is true, I just saved myself several thousands words in writing this blog. These small creatures never ceases to amaze me.
Here's a little love story:
Above: Boy meets girl, in a very strange place I might add.
Boy: "You come here often"? Girl: "No, this is my first time".
Boy: "You are the most beautiful Preying Mantis I have ever seen. Green looks really nice on you. That color makes you look skinny." Girl: "He, He, thank you very much".
Boy: "I think she's buying my lines...YES!" (Not that much different than humans!)
Boy: "Can I have this dance?" Girl: "Okay, but I don't really know you. You seem like a good Preying Mantis though".
Boy's mind:"I knew I could win her...It's gonna be a good day!" Girl's mind: "That's all they think about. What will my mother say if she finds out? I might just bite his head off". (Again, not all that much different than humans.) The rest of the pictures have been censored...actually I decided to push the boy Preying Mantis away. He doesn't know, but I saved his life... for today anyway.
Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think.
Yvon Bourque
7 comments:
Amazing that you got them to both jump on your hand like that - from your last image there, it looks like they were close to you needing to wash your hands
"...when the female bites off the male’s head, all control is lost and the result is repeated copulation."
Maybe a good action sequence for the K20D's burst mode
This is great! wow. awesome work!
Sep 05, 2008; 05:52 p.m.
Fun series, Yvon! The first shot is quite spectacular--we've got these critters in the yard but I've never seen such a display.
Yeah, That's what happens at the "Mantis Cotillion"! Wow, great pics and storyline!
It is unbelievable that insects would try to mate in your hand. Thank God humans aren’t like that.
Very well done. We have those here too but I never was able to get that close.
That first shot is spectacular
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