Posts Tagged: praying mantis
Year 2020 Felt Like a Close Encounter of the Worst Kind

The year 2020 felt like a close encounter of the worst kind. The raging COVID-19 pandemic,...
Oops! A Gulf Fritillary, Araulis vanillae, lands near a praying mantis, a female Mantis religiosa, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The praying mantis lurches toward the unsuspecting butterfly and tries to snag it with its spiked forelegs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Escape! The Gulf Fritillary escapes the predator's clutches. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
2020: The COVID Chase

In the year 2020, COVID chased us out of our work places and out of our fun places. So we...
A honey bee buzzing in a patch of catmint. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Gulf Fritillary fluttering toward its host plant, passionflower vine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A praying mantis eating its prey, a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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)