Praying Mantis

[valhalla]

I was deadheading my marigolds Sunday evening and look who was there!  Can you see the raindrops on him?

[Mirta]

Beautiful!

Mirta

[Donna]

I was deadheading my marigolds Sunday evening and look who was there!  Can you see the raindrops on him?

Now that's a surprise....cool...thanks Janet.

[valhalla]

We saw  one flying yesterday - that was cool!  I think we know who ate my garden spider, too.

[Paul Hamilton]

Great mantis!

Thanks,

Paul

[Mirta]

I´d believe your mantis is an european one, Mantis religiosa. Do you know if I´m correct?
Mirta

[Aafke]

I was deadheading my marigolds Sunday evening and look who was there!  Can you see the raindrops on him?

Hi Janet, I like him  and yes I saw the raindrops on him, great!!! 
And I like your marigolds, but what is deadheading? Is it cutting out the dead flowers?
  greetings Aafke

[valhalla]

Mirta and Aafka - I don't know the genus (spelling) for my mantis - suspect male due to size (if my brains are correct the female is larger) - this one wasn't monster-sized.

Deadheading is when you pinch the dried up blooms off the plants.  I drop them back in the ground and they will grow new plants, which helps to double the growing season on some plants.  I'm deadheading mums now.

[Paul Hamilton]

The European Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa) is so well established in the US that it has been made the official state insect of Connecticut, where I grew up.  We still have plenty of kinds of native mantis.  Here is a Carolina Mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina.

Paul

[Donna]

The European Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa) is so well established in the US that it has been made the official state insect of Connecticut, where I grew up.  We still have plenty of kinds of native mantis.  Here is a Carolina Mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina.

Paul

Paul is the one you posted the same as this one I took last year? Here is the pic.

[valhalla]

I think that Paul's mantis is the one I posted a few weeks ago.  Very Cool!

[Donna]

I think that Paul's mantis is the one I posted a few weeks ago.  Very Cool!

Oh yeah, your stick thingie.....   Some are brown and some are green...
My neighbor was weeding her garden back in July and she came across a very small mantis. I never heard such a blood-curdling scream....(she's afraid of a flea). 

[valhalla]

Some are brown and some are green...

I didn't know that they came in different colors, which reinforces my purpose of joining this group and that was to learn.  A good thing and we have fun, too.

[Mirta]

Mantis religiosa, the european mantis, can be ID by a black spot in the inner side on the first segment of the first pair of legs. Sometimes black has white in the center, but not always. I´ve found this link with a picture where you can see the black in the base of the first coxa:

http://estaticos02.cache.el-mundo.net/elmundo/imagenes/2007/06/27/1182922631_0.jpg

Males have a thinner abdomen than females, that looks like with wide hips... 
Mirta

[Judi]

 Mirta,

That's very interesting!  The mantis we have in So Cal are not European Mantises though, just the normal plain ones.  I do get babies occasionally around the yard...they're so cute!  I had a female on my car's front windshield the other day that decided to go for a short ride     with me.  She lasted almost half a mile before she decided it was time to get off!