Carol DM
Among the garden’s most elegant vines, Mandevilla offers stunning trumpet shape flowers in shades of pink, white, or red. I like the bright red best of all. It’s the perfect plant for creating a tropical look. Mandevilla is usually grown as an annual, though it can be overwintered indoors in a bright spot. I put mine in the garage over the winter and it usually survives and comes back for the spring.
I was out watering my garden this morning and this Mandevilla is on my deck. I reached down to pick one of the blooms and almost picked this little green man! It is a Praying Mantis. Do you see him? They are harmless but it startled me just the same. They try to camouflouge in the flowers but I saw him.They really are cool to see.
Moths, crickets, grasshoppers, flies, and other insects are usually the unfortunate recipients of the mantis. However, the insects will also eat others of their own kind. I did not need to know that fact.
Photo ©CarolDM2018
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Have you seen a Praying Mantis before?
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Yes
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No
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Your picture is perfect!
How kind of you to say thank you.
Hey, they also often visit me, both from the front garden and from the back yard.
So these are world wide critters! 🙂
They certainly do not travel with Boeing
Ha that is funny. 🙂
I hope he stays around, I found a tiny one about the length of my finger nail last year on my plants. : )
I do too Kim he is pretty cool.
May he or she breed and have lots of babies to keep your garden safe from pests. : )
I hope so, that would be cool.
When we lived in Indiana we used to see them all the time. They are the most beautiful creatures. Your picture is perfect!
They are the coolest. Thanks Doc! I got lucky with the photo.
I was lucky one day. I found a pair of them mating on my mullein. I may share that photo. They do blend right it. I almost didn’t see them on that plant.
You should share it. I have found grasshoppers mating and it was a cool shot, sorry but it was.
I’m always finding mating box elders bugs and ladybugs. Got lots of photos of them.
I feel scary from this critter
They are not scary at all, they do not bite unless you sneak up on them perhaps. They either freeze when I see them or they crawl away.
I do see quite a few during the summer months. Yours look much larger though.
Mine is through a macro lens, they may be the same size as yours.
You always capture everything at its best.
You are kind LaJenna. The PowerShot camera helps with the macros. 🙂
That is great to know….and yes I do see it in the photo! Great one!
Thanks Courtney, always good to see you.
They are also almost insatiable. I like having them in the garden because of that.
I did not know that about them.
I discovered the hard way last summer that those buggers can bite if you try to pick them up.
My Dad always told me that and I never tried to prove him wrong.
They are capable of biting but rarely will unless they are being hurt. I often pick them up when I see them and have never been bitten. That’s partly because I don’t actually pick them up as in plucking them off a leaf. I hold one hand down and shoo them onto my hand with the other hand.
You have to do it gradually and not startle them perhaps. That makes sense.
Those guys are brutal. If you aren’t a fan of cannibalism, then don’t read up on their mating habits…
I know, I have read about it in the past. Crazy stuff.
Was it good for you, baby? What the-
Ha! You have a dark sense of humor but I must like it.
I keep coming back for more. 🙂
That really is how it works from what I read.
It’s pretty messed up. Gotta have an active sense of humor if you want to last around here…
Perfect capture of the Praying Mantis!
Thanks and hey there, good to see you!! 🙂
Yes, brown, and sometimes they kind of resemble walking sticks. I was surprised to learn that the praying mantis is protected under the law as an exotic species so that in some places it is illegal to keep one as a pet.
I know, I read that too and I was like, what?? 🙂
Great photo of the little critter. I used to be scared of these insects but I know there is no reason to be of them…
Thanks, this is why I always have my camera. They are harmless.
Great capture! I think I have never seen it in person.
Thanks, they are like a little man for some reason, their little faces remind me of a person. 🙂
They may look like they are praying, but they are actually preying, then? Their camouflage color is such a pretty green. Yes, I have seen many of these, but none lately. Thanks much for sharing!
They may look like they are praying, but they are actually preying, then? Their camouflage color is such a pretty green. Yes, I have seen many of these, but none lately. Thanks much for sharing!.
Indeed, you are right! They sometimes will turn brown, kind of cool.