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StumbleUponPosts Tagged: praying mantis
Just Look, Don't Take?
When we last left Ms. Mantis, a female Stagmomantis limbata residing in our verbena patch, she was...
A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata (as identified by praying mantis expert Lohit Garikipati of UC Davis) eyes a mourning cloak butterfly nectaring on verbena. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ready, set...The praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, really wants this mourning cloak butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Whoa, where did it go? It was in my sights and now it's gone." The praying mantis loses her prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Safe and sound. The duskywing butterfly, genus Erynnis, nectars on a blossom away from the praying mantis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Victory in the Verbena
Yes, I'm hungry. A female praying mantis is perched upside down in our pollinator garden. She has...
A female praying mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata (as identified by Lohit Garikipati of UC Davis) is looking for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Seconds later, the praying mantis nails a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, begins to eat. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A freeloader fly, (family Milichiidae and probably genus Desmometopa) perches on a spiked foreleg. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The praying mantis eats the last of her prey, while the freeloader fly is out of luck. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
All gone and done. The praying mantis is finished with her meal. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A 'Star' Is Born and Then....
We rarely see an adult praying mantis until late summer or fall. Their offspring are out there,...
First-instar praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, as identified by UC Davis praying mantis expert and entomology student Lohit Garikpati. Photograph taken May 13 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
How tiny is the first-instar? This tiny. And that's a red spider mite that crawled onto the dime. Note the chunk of abdomen missing on the first-instar--probably due to sibling cannibalism. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This was a very gravid mantis, Stagmomantis limbata on Sept. 24, 2018. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Mama mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata, depositing an ootheca or egg case on a redwood stake. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Henrietta and the Drone Fly: The Predator and the Prey
Henrietta, our Stagmomantis limbata praying mantis, perches on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). She...
Henrietta, our Stagmomantis limbata praying mantis, lies in wait on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia.) (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A drone fly (syrphid) lands on the blossom as a hungry praying mantis watches intently. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
One quick move and praying mantis has dinner. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The spiked forelegs hold the prey in place. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's eat and be eaten in the garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Henrietta the praying mantis polishes off the last of the fly but a wing is visible evidence of what happened. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Henrietta and the Ootheca
Talk about the unexpected. “Look!” says Jim. He pauses by the kitchen counter....
Henrietta, a Stagmomantis limbata, hanging out in a patch of Mexican sunflowers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is the ootheca that Henrietta (which means "home ruler") deposited before we released her. The species? Stagmomantis limbata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of the ootheca, magnified with a Leica DVM6 microscope operated by Lynn Epstein, UC Davis emeritus professor of plant pathology.
