Jinxing

pregnant Chinese mantis Tenodera aridifolia sinensis on porch screen
Just a quick one here. I discovered this little lady Thursday night, after the rains had started, sitting up under the overhang of the porch endeavoring to remain dry. The rain continued all day Friday and she stayed in place; the way the ground slopes down in the back yard, she was close to three meters over my head, so I had little choice in shooting angles and was hoping she would eventually move to a more accessible position. I finally shot a few frames where she was, early this morning while the rain had lessened a bit (we’re pretty saturated right now.) With luck, she will stick close and find a place for her egg sac, since that swollen abdomen is evidence that the event is due. With further luck, she will not put it anywhere near her location in this image, where I’d have to be on a tall ladder to do proper macro shots.

Is this one of ‘our’ brood, perhaps the brown one that had resided on the lilies and rose bush for so long? I have no way of telling, since I lost track of that one soon after it molted. But I’m hoping to have an egg sac to monitor next spring, and do some more (and better) hatching photos.

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