This afternoon while talking to The Girlfriend in the garage, I heard the strident ratcheting sound of a captured cicada, very close by – like within a few meters. I went out into the driveway and immediately found the source, since they had cooperatively performed this drama right in the driveway, good light and everything. Not just an opportunity for photos, but video as well. Which
Tag: Tenodera sinensis
Running behind
Still not keeping up with the post count, and I feel absolutely awful, I’m here to tell you (okay, no I don’t, just slightly contrite, but not so much that a shrug can’t dismiss it.) And the subjects haven’t improved, though I did make a couple of attempts at something a little different, with no success as yet. But here’s another scale comparison, because
Convenience
That’s what I’ve been trying to accomplish: convenience. I mean sure, it’s great to see all sorts of exotic critters by getting abused by the airlines, staying in crappy accommodations, and spending large amounts of money, but there’s a lot to be said about stepping barely outside your doors to find subjects to photograph. Granted, they’re mostly all
Squeezing one in
I thought I might get a few last photos up from the NY trips, but then when out in the yard watering plants, I saw some potential video opportunities. Some of these clips have been attempted before and never panned out, but this time luck was with me.
Note: The voiceovers are off the cuff (obviously,) but this also means that I can occasionally forget something, like the fact that
No one needed to know
So, here’s how my thinking goes sometimes. I have a few images largely unrelated to other things that can thus be in a short post, and was considering when to put them up. These kind of things serve as a buffer between longer, info-heavy posts, and I do have one of those coming – but I also have the Profiles of Nature post tomorrow, and that does the job too. And I’m also
Chinese buffet
Returning from this past trip, I noticed that one of the Chinese mantises (Tenodera sinensis) was now perched on the balloon flowers within easy reach of the cat mint, which is notorious for attracting pollinators by the boatload, and thus was almost twice the size as when I’d last seen one due to this proximity to effortless meals.
I realize that this doesn’t show scale
You never doubted it, did you?
Because I’ve featured so many mantis photos in previous years, I have been lightening up on pursuing them recently unless I can see some specific behavior, but I still take the opportunity to snag a few photos when I can – especially if I find one feeding when I can take advantage of it. This Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis) is on a potted curry plant, so-named
Local news and weather
About a week ago, we were still struggling with a faint drought, having had no rain in roughly two weeks while temperatures were peaking in the 30s, and the rain barrels were rapidly emptying as we kept the various plants watered. That evening I took the misting sprayer and went around to the likeliest plants to give them a thorough misting, knowing the mantids, at least, would be pleased with it.
More mouths to feed
Luckily, I’m not the one to do it.
I was busy with other tasks this morning and neglected to do my morning check of the mantis egg sacs, but judging from how many were swarming around when I finally did notice this one, they’d probably gotten started in the very early morning hours. Only a couple were still displaying a slight forehead bump that’s the last
They’re trying to avoid me
It’s almost 4 AM right now, and don’t ask me about my sleep schedule. But yesterday evening (as in, about seven hours ago,) I checked on the mantis egg sacs in the yard because I know they’re due – actually overdue, going by previous years. Nothing was happening then, so as I stepped out this morning at 3-ish I only glanced down at the nearest one in passing, since it sits