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Posts Tagged ‘mantis religiosa’

Caught in a web

Posted in Arachnids, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spiders, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 25, 2018| 7 Comments »

When I came upon this little praying mantis during a recent trip to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I couldn’t decide if it was the predator or the prey. Although the mantis seemed to be at least partially trapped in a spider’s web, the spider no longer seemed to be present. In addition, the mantis appeared to be trying to work its way out of the web.

There is definitely a story here, but I can’t figure out for sure what it is. You’ll have to choose an ending to the story on your own.

praying mantis

 

praying mantis

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Praying Mantis

Posted in Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged , , , , , , on August 15, 2016| 7 Comments »

I spotted this Praying Mantis on Saturday at Huntley Meadows Park as it was crawling about on a nesting box for birds in one of the remote areas of the park. I am pretty confident that the nesting box, which was used by Tree Swallows earlier in the year, was no longer in active use—otherwise the mantis probably would not have survived for long. I was struck by the size of the insect, which seemed to be about six inches (15 cm) in length.

I think this may be a Mantis religiosa, one of the more common types of mantises, though Wikipedia notes that there are over 2400 species worldwide, so I could easily be incorrect in my identification.

Praying Mantis

Praying Mantis

Praying Mantis

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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