I was just outside watering the garden in the dark and when I came inside, I started talking to Kid2 who was near the front door and then we both heard a big flap behind us. I thought it was a moth but then Kid2 spotted it on the door – a praying mantis!

I asked if it would like to go back outside and it said (I assume, if the waving of the forelegs were anything to go by) yes please, so we did. I wonder if it was one of the babies we put outside last spring?! I kind of hope it was 🥰

#nature #PrayingMantis #bug #garden

I used to be really into insect photography, because macro photography is fun. I took these back in like 2013ish? Maybe fedi will like them.

The mantis was my pet, and the butterfly was from a "butterfly kit".

#insects #insect #prayingmantis #butterfly #monarchbutterfly #mantis #bugstodon

On Thursday I rode down to Bikeline to get a new rear derailleur fitted. Fitting and adjusting would take an hour - hour and a half, so I took my sketch book and wandered down the street.

I was standing in the carpark behind Rowes next to a low retaining wall looking for something to draw when a car approached to park.

I stepped to the side, caught my foot on a kerb beside the wall and started to go sideways. Rather than fall, I tried to sit down on the wall.

I sat on the wall but kept going in slow-mo backwards into the garden until I was laying on crushed bushes with my legs up on the wall.

The driver rushed over and grabbed my hand to help me up, but I nearly dragged him in with me!

I rolled over crushing more plants and he helped me up when I got to my knees!

The gardener turned up, cleaned up my mess and said not to worry about it. She then pointed out the praying mantis on my hat.

There is a coffee shop at the corner of Rowes, so I had a cappuccino and sketched. A lady came past, said she was the owner and asked for a photo of it.

I then ambled back to the bike shop and cycled home.

#recumbenttrike #etrike #sketching #prayingmantis

#FotoVorschlag “Alles, was Fühler hat // Anything with Feelers”

Carolina #Mantis
Mantis eyes always appear to be looking at you but it’s an illusion created by the structure of their eyes. (Pseudopupil) The light absorbing lenses (ommatidia) appear dark because you’re looking straight through that one, while the surrounding lenses reflect light.

#photography #fotografie #photographie #fotografia #insect #prayingmantis #antenna #closeup #macro #macrophotography #fujifilm #lightroom

New Bug Alert!

Giant Australian Rainforest Mantis - Hierodula majuscula

The colours on this little one are so neat.

#prayingmantis #giantrainforestmantis #bug #insect #green #weirdgirlpets #pet #pets #petphoto #petphotos #weirdpets #unusualpets #mantis #Hierodulamajuscula

Another giant golden orb weaver, there are plenty of it currently on the road side... so you can see a lot of praying mantis egg cases, containing hundreds of eggs... this one attached to a tamarind plant...It is likely from an invasive species such as the Chinese mantis, which are commonly sold commercially for pest control. #spider #prayingmantis
Australian green mantis (Orthodera ministralis) / #RedWolf https://flic.kr/p/2rKaY3z #photography #insect #prayingmantis