Friday, November 03, 2006

Chinese Mantid (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis)




Chinese Mantid
Tenodera aridifolia sinensis

I saw this Praying Mantis climbing on the Tiger-tail Spruce (Picea torana) I was photographing. I had taken a couple of pictures before I realized it was in there. It actually gave me a bit of a start and I quickly looked around but nobody had seen me jump. It sure is a fascinating insect and it was a little scary trying to real close to. I saw a website where a Praying Mantis had caught and eaten a Hummingbird and I would probably wouldn’t have believed it but they had pictures. This individual stayed calm and posed for about 30 shots. It seemed to be making kind of an odd chirping noise.

I hadn’t seen a Praying Mantis in several years until about 2 weeks ago I saw one at work but of course didn’t have my camera. Then I saw this one and was able to take a picture of one for the first time. It was a little difficult because he was inside the Spruce. I think that is where the weird lighting came from.

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