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#106654 Aug 9th, 2007 at 07:22 PM
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I was out tonight cleaning the pond. Chopping up my super-long anarchis and hornwort, and getting excited by all the baby snails I'm finding. I probably found around 8 new snails--babies of the ones I bought and want in there! Woohoo! Anyway, while taking the bits of leaves and algea to the compost pile, I notice a stray leaf on my shoulder. I went to brush it off and it ran towards my head!! shock nervous I grabbed it and threw it to the ground. I saw it was a praying mantis and scooped the poor thing up (boy was he angry) and took him in too show my husband. Well, while showing Adam, the thing ran up my arm, onto my back and into my hair.

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As Adam was taking the picture, the mantis jumped at him and he screamed like a little girl and ran away from me! It was so funny. Every time the bug moved he'd be screaming and running.

[Linked Image]


Sarah - Zone 5b/6
LandOfOz #106661 Aug 9th, 2007 at 07:26 PM
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Wonderful shots! In spite of the screaming.


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What every gardener loves the most, Begins and ends in rich compost. (Tina)
Tina #106664 Aug 9th, 2007 at 07:28 PM
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I haven't seen a praying mantis in years! He's kinda cute, reminds me of "A Bug's Life". Sounds like you had a little excitement tonight Sarah!


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mrw #106672 Aug 9th, 2007 at 07:32 PM
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So cute in a buggy kind of way.

I had one living in my plant pot last week.....I went to grab him thinking he was a leaf or something and it moved. lol Are they endangered????? I see those walking stick bugs once in a while too.

#106697 Aug 9th, 2007 at 07:47 PM
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I don't think that they are endangered. We have a cool brown spotted one that lives on our enclosed porch. Every now and again we see him climbing around, doing his little boxing move at us.


Sarah - Zone 5b/6
LandOfOz #106710 Aug 9th, 2007 at 08:02 PM
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thumbup i like praying mantis thumbup

#106761 Aug 9th, 2007 at 09:00 PM
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Those are fantastic pictures of a very interesting creature!

We used to find them much more often when we were kids, but I also remember being told way back then that they were an endangered species. Maybe the population came back and they were taken off the list?


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plants 'n pots #106822 Aug 10th, 2007 at 03:58 AM
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Oh wow, that is so cool. We don't have them here. I've never seen a real one in my life.


~~Tam~ You can bury all your troubles by digging in the dirt.
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Sunflowers #106856 Aug 10th, 2007 at 05:31 AM
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clapsarah thats so cool! great pics!
i watched the eggs hatch n all the baby come out, but so far i havent seen a one since:{


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sibyl #106935 Aug 10th, 2007 at 06:58 AM
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Sarah those are great pics!!! I love the title too!!
I've always loved praying mantis. They are cool and unusual looking bug.
A very alien look.


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Shirley4 #106977 Aug 10th, 2007 at 07:30 AM
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I did some research on it and most sources said that they've never been on the endangered species list, just that it is largely rumored to be (but actually isn't). That is quite a rumor and I wonder who started it.


Sarah - Zone 5b/6
LandOfOz #107014 Aug 10th, 2007 at 09:17 AM
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lol
Eeeeek! watch out Adam its a harmless bug!! shock


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Wrennie #107035 Aug 10th, 2007 at 09:47 AM
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Originally Posted by Wrennie
lol
Eeeeek! watch out Adam its a harmless bug!! shock


lol lol lol


Sarah - Zone 5b/6
Shirley4 #107368 Aug 10th, 2007 at 04:43 PM
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Maybe they are making a come back cuz I've recently started seeing them in my yard and they havent been around in years. We have had an unusual amount of rain recently and I wondered if they were as a result of the waters. In any case, I'm glad they are around cuz that same water has caused an over abundance of skeeters and ants. I hope the mantises,...manti (plural ?) do stay around cuz I need help getting rid of these pesky bugs.

Im keeping my fingers crossed that we get back lighting bugs and horned toads which have disappeared from our area too.

D #107424 Aug 10th, 2007 at 06:17 PM
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We have them in NC. Is it too cold in Canada for them to lay eggs?



Bestofour #107693 Aug 11th, 2007 at 08:18 AM
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It's funny that this thread showed up!

I just found a female in my greenhouse, presumably looking for a spot to lay her eggs. I have seen only one other one this year, a green one - the male. Since I too thought they were absent for such a long time I did some research. They are a very beneficial insect but apparently they are extremely canabalistic, so much so that the female lays her eggs where they will be scattered by the breeze as they hatch because the young will feed on each other and reduce there own numbers! I am going to go and see if I can find the site where I read that info.

Those pics posted are AMAZING!

JustForMaellin #107700 Aug 11th, 2007 at 08:58 AM
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I also found out that we may be seeing them again here in Ontario, Canada because we had an unseasonable warm winter last year.

http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/mantids/praying/

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2154.html

JustForMaellin #109728 Aug 14th, 2007 at 09:22 AM
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How can you tell the sex of the mantis? I love most bugs (except wasps/hornets and spiders) and mantis's have got to be my favorite. We've had an exeptionally wet year also. This spring my obedient plants were literally crawling with baby mantises. There were probably 40 or 50 of them!


Sarah - Zone 5b/6
LandOfOz #109815 Aug 14th, 2007 at 10:24 AM
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Well apparently I have been wrong in my thinking all these years. I had always assumed that brown mantid were female and green were male??? Apparently you are supposed to count parts on them to determine the sex. I found an awesome site that deals with all kinds of bugs though and their section on praying mantis was very informative - what's that bug . com

JustForMaellin #109833 Aug 14th, 2007 at 10:45 AM
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Cool photos Sarah... I see you used a Canon PowerShot S2 IS

How to tell the sex? The male 'vanishes' after mating grin... Just kiddinggrin Heres how you really tell...

Eight segments can be counted on the underside of the abdomen of a male and six on that of the female

Last edited by Hadeda; Aug 14th, 2007 at 10:47 AM.

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