Posts Tagged: praying mantis
Top Secret: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Is Really a Praying Mantis
Sorry, contrary to popular opinion and Western lore, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is NOT a...
Giddy-up! Santa, being the jolly ol' gent he is, drives The Red-Nosed Mantis in front of the Davis home of entomologists Robert and Lynn Kimsey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. (Photo by Lynn Kimsey)
This praying mantis, photographed in Vacaville, Calif., waits to ambush prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Passion Is Where You Find It
Those passion flowers (Passiflora) are insect magnets. One minute you'll see a praying mantis on a...
A female praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, crawls over a passionflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, lands on a passionflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Notice the spider's thread across the blossom of this passionflower vine? The spider knows where the prey is. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Will a Praying Mantis Eat a Caterpillar?
Will a praying mantis eat a caterpillar? Short answer: Yes. For several days, we've been watching...
Gulf Fritillaries flutter over a praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, in a passionflower patch in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ahh! The praying mantis finds a non-fluttering target, a Gulf Fritillary munching on the leaves of a passionflower vine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gotcha! The praying mantis stretches her spiked forelegs to reach the caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Will a praying mantis eat a caterpillar? Yes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Praying mantis rapidly finishing her dinner. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Not a Good Day for a Bee
A gravid praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, crawls out of a patch of African blue...
A gravid Stagmomantis limbata eyes a honey bee nectaring on African blue basil. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The praying mantis grips the honey bee with her spiked forelegs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
As the praying mantis eats the honey bee, another honey bee comes over to investigate. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Soon another honey bee appears on the scene. The two bees quickly left. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Honey Bee and the Praying Mantis
So I'm a praying mantis and being a top-notch real estate developer, I've located the best place in...
A honey bee nectaring on African blue basil blossoms is unaware that on the other side, camouflaged and hidden in the shadows, is a praying mantis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The honey bee, intent on gathering nectar, doesn't notice a praying mantis in her flight zone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Oops, what's that blocking my path?" the bee says. "Look at those spiked forelegs. This might not end well." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This honey bee survives to visit the African blue basil patch another day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Oh, well, I forgot to pray before breakfast." The praying mantis assumes its position. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)