My Best Daily Shots

06/14/10 - Praying Mantis
I took Joey to the doc yesterday, and he did indeed have strep throat. They gave him an antibiotic shot, and he should be back in school tomorrow. Whew.

On the way home from the doc's office, I stopped at the Yates Mill parking lot to see if anything interesting was going on with the Coneflowers. I was delighted to find this Praying Mantis hanging out. I must have taken 50 shots of him as he moved from flower to flower. Then of course I had to scrutinize them for which one to show you.

I took a few minutes to read this article about them on wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis
They have compound eyes which makes them appear to have a pupil sometimes. They are predators which means you might see them eating a butterfly or cricket. I can tell you that this guy had no fear of me and actually tried to attack my camera lens:

http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Nature/June-2010/12400102_x8pU2#900089481_2iSwi
Too bad that shot was not in focus!

I do have a shot that I took last year of a praying mantis eating a black swallowtail butterfly. You don't get to see much of the mantis, but you can see him in action.

http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Nature/Mostly-Moths-Butterflies/5380203_NQszu#329565523_LWXHJ
The butterfly was already gone when I happened upon them.

HOT here. Going to feel like 100 today. It was boiling when I was taking the mantis pics (the kids were cool in the car). It's that time of year when I can't step outside without getting at least 2 mosquito bites. At least we are getting showers to help with watering. I really appreciate it when I don't have to stand there with a watering can or hose and get bit up even more.

Hope you all have a good week...
Maryann