Lately, life has been very insect-heavy. We hatched (pupated?) Painted Lady butterflies in a habitat (thanks, Grandma & Grandpa K). Actually, they pupated themselves and we watched. We've identified more beetles, moths, caterpillars and craneflies than I care to acknowledge on the property. We use Insects of the Pacific Northwest by Peter & Judy Haggard (thank you Auntie K, for the book money).
The most fun, though, is the praying mantis. We found one living in my daphne and if you put a cranefly near those front legs (praying, my eye), they go SNATCH with a terrible rustling of wings and bug parts, and he stuffs the fly in his mouth - at least all that will fit. The mantis has the cutest bug head I've ever seen; it swivels toward you and away, and his eyes are very bright.
3 comments:
Love the butterfly hatching idea and the parachuting pics! EEEeek. Praying mantis' give me the creeps! We've learned about so many new (to us) insects this summer, had 5 black widows lately in our garage, so I hear ya about an insect/bug/spider type obsession.
The praying mantis photos with the boys are so cool. The parachuting ones scare me! Stay safe little ones! :) Maybe I am the only one with weak ankles lol.
Happy birthday to the Spouse! Guess mine's the day before his. Those are awesome pictures of the Preying Mantis. That is a very cool specimen! They are one of the most interesting insects to me.
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