Latest Posts

Photo Shoot With a Praying Mantis

By 20:47:00 , ,

Is not something at all easy to do, especially if the mantis just wants to walk north.... I have no idea why but no matter how many times I spun it around the mantis always would be trying to walk north. If I happened to be holding her I had to make sure I faced north or else I would find a mantis on my shoulder....trying to climb higher.




She had huge eyes...like all mantises and could turn her head around a full 180°!!! In fact she would sometimes just face straight ahead and roll her beady black bit of her eye around and look back at me... which is rather creepy, but so is turning her head all the way around.


Cool fact 1 : the praying mantis has just a single ear, located on the underside of its belly, just forward of its hind legs!




 Cool fact 2 :Their eyes can see movement up to 18 meters (60 feet) away




While I was trying to do the 'photo shoot' of the praying mantis a vegy headed, one hopper legged, grass hopper, interrupted us. So I took a photo of him too, but then he hopped off.

I could not convince the mantis to stay still! Even if she was not walking steadily north she would sway back and forth...in and out of focus.... and then jump up onto the camera and start crawling up the straps and rather close to my face.....



She does have rather spiky legs

My other problem was that I found a nest of small black ants.... only slightly annoying if there is one.... but when there are a jolly lot of them climbing up my legs and inside my trousers...



so the ants brought the photo shoot to a sudden end. So I left the mantis to walk north.... I have no idea what she wanted to do that for...

, ,

About the Author

Clare Farrelly is a professional photographer. She is an Australian and lives in NSW Australia. In her free time she likes to read, do random crafts or sewing projects found on Pinterest, journal, write articles and stories. Most important, she is a daughter of the living God, saved by his grace.

You Might Also Like

4 comments

  1. His Princess13 March 2014 at 03:22

    Oooh, you're brave to hold one of those. *shivers* I personally wouldn't touch one. Awesome pictures of it though and that is so cool about it's ear. Imagine hearing through your stomach!

    HP

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Clare13 March 2014 at 07:57

      Well the first time I didn't try and hold it.... she just ran straight up my arm....(off the piece of bark I was holding her on.

      Delete
  2. Rosie13 March 2014 at 07:24

    I think Praying Mantis are awesome, if slightly creepy. XD
    But I don't think I could ever hold one. XP
    Great photos!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Clare13 March 2014 at 07:57

      Thanks for the comment, I was actually quite surprises so many of the photos turned out alright.

      Delete