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Post by pondgardener on Aug 24, 2020 20:11:17 GMT -5
Over two years ago, I had brought home to the garden dozens of preying mantises from the testing lab I worked at before I retired. I finally saw one in the garden that hadn't fallen prey to all the house sparrows that roam the yard. I got a pretty decent photo using my cell phone camera...
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Post by tom 🕊 on Aug 24, 2020 21:28:34 GMT -5
Over two years ago, I had brought home to the garden dozens of preying mantises I haven't see a pink one here. I have a light green praying mantis on a polygonum orientale near the back door steps. Its color matches the light green color of polygonum leaves. It has been there for three weeks and molted Saturday. I kept the skin, which is remarkably detailed like a casting. Its camouflage is excellent. It is so well hidden by shape, color, and stillness that it is nearly invisible. My looking at it doesn't seem to bother it.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Aug 25, 2020 12:07:07 GMT -5
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Post by gardendmpls on Aug 25, 2020 12:19:22 GMT -5
Amazing. Always liked mantids. They have personality.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Aug 25, 2020 18:05:29 GMT -5
gardendmpls , they're also so beautifully colored. Seeing those photos was the first time I realized how varied their coloring is. Some of their poses are balletic in form and grace, as if they're engaged in their own pas de deux.
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Post by Wheelgarden on Aug 25, 2020 18:21:25 GMT -5
We have green and brown mantids in good numbers here. They do help with controlling the pests. We find their foamy egg cases every year. They stay still as you approach, and swivel their head, eyes, and pointy mouth toward you, as if to say, "Don't mess with me. I've got blades."
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