Grooming

And of course, Madam is still there and feeling well. Here I caught her grooming herself.

Stream Bluet Damselfly

A much more welcome guest we had today at the plant, was a Stream Bluet Damselfly.

Bagworm

Didn't I prophecize it? I am becoming a regular entomologist here ...
Up until now, the world of insects was very alien to me - they lived in their world and better not crossed over into my world, or else I would excat the death sentence on them.
But now I am finding myself strangely drawn to this realm of creepy, crawly critters. Must have something to do with my new photo equipment, and of course it helps if you find the subjects of your photographic interests right in your backyard.
Well, some of those you really don't want to find there - like the bag worms that invaded one of our trees of life. They destroyed one half of it in short time and the jury is still out on whether the stuff we bought at Lowe's and put on them in great quantities will rid us of this pest. Maybe we will have to burn the whole tree down eventually ...

Japanese Beetles

They look like creatures straight out of a 1950s bad Alien B-Movie. They are like locust, invading your backyard and eating everything they can get a hold of. They are too big and too many for natural defenses - which, in our case would be Madam Mantis. No way she could kill one of those monstrous Japanese Beetles, that invaded our sunflowers, the hibiscus and various other plants around the house in the last few nights. The only chance to combat them is to protect the plants with mesh-nets. Annoying, disgusting creatures, a real pest. Can't wait for Madam to get big enough to kill one of those alien-bugs ...

Alertness

Usually, Madam sits on a leaf, preferably head-down, without moving a muscle.
But sometimes, when we make loud noises, she actually turns her head and ... looks at us.
I do not know, whether she actually has the ability to hear sounds, or if this is just a reaction to the sound-waves that change the air-pressure around her. But it is kind of eerie, to be starred down by this creature, as if she wants to tell you "Don't get on my nerves, be quiet!".

Ants

One might not believe that a predator will be harassed by its prey - but I've actually seen this behavior numerous times with birds of prey that were chased and attacked by much smaller birds.
Today, I witnessed a similar thing with our mantis and some pesky ants. Many of those little black garden ants had invaded the plant, and they literally swarmed all over the place - and two of them actually crawled over the mantis' legs.
Instead of defending herself, and just eating the impertinent intruders, which she could have done easily, Madam chose to just leave and avoid any further confrontation. Maybe she was not hungry, or ants do not taste good, or maybe she did not want to declare war on the whole tribe - Madam gracefully, but recognizably p.o.'ed, retired to another leaf.

Some moments later, I wandered around the backyard and noticed a bright, colorful bug in one of our sunflowers. But before I could get a decent shot of this interesting critter, it too was chased away by those ants. They are virtually all over the whole place. We probably need to do something against it, before they eat everything there.

Moulting

 Yesterday, my wife fell into a minor panic. All day long, Madam was not detectable. My morning visit today revealed why - she was moulting again. This apparently occurs every 14 to 15 days, and we have witnessed it twice already.
Wikipedia says:
Ecdysis is the moulting of the cuticula in arthropods and related groups (Ecdysozoa). Since the cuticula of these animals is also the skeletal support (the exoskeleton) of the body and is inelastic, it is shed during growth and a new, larger covering is formed. The old, empty exoskeleton is called an exuvia (or "exuvium").
And here is a picture of Madam's exuvia, with the "breaking point" clearly visible at the head.

It is most astonishing that even the antennae are "exchanged" in this process.
The picture below shows her right after the moulting - if you look closely, there are two drops of fluid on her left antenna, right were it protrudes from the head. This must be some kind of fluid to assist with the whole process.

And here is a picture of the "new" Madam - she has grown considerably in the last two weeks. The vicia plant she's calling home provides a cornucopia of food, plus shade and secluded places to retire, kick back, and shed the old skin.

And yes, our vicia plant blooms - with mostly blue, with some white ones, too.
By the way, Madam is not from Carolina - she is from Europe. I identified her today as mantis religiosa, or European Mantis. It is clearly determinable by the black spot she has at her "fore-legs" - you can see this very good in the picture of her exuvia above.
How do I know that? well, I bought a book. About insects. Lots of pictures of crawly, multi-legged critters in it (although no spiders ... what a great relief). Never thought that I would ever become interested in this matter ...

Breakfast

For the first week or so, we were a bit concerned that we never saw Madam eat anything - although we watched her almost constantly. Well, maybe not really constantly, but very, very often ... you get the drift.
Maybe in the first days or so after hatching, a mantis is not really capable of hunting, or they do not need any food right away, or a combination of both.
Now, however, every insect that wanders in the vicinity is in grave danger. And this vicinity is growing day by day.
This morning, I noticed that Madam had caught a small insect and was eating it. Before I could get my camera and be ready, she had already finished her meal. But I stayed there nevertheless, watching her. Then, after a couple of minutes or so, a not so tiny fly came to one of the leafs Madam had in her view.
The fly did not recognize the danger, Madam began rocking forth and back (like Leo Mazzone, the former pitching coach of the Atlanta Braves) and then, faster then the human eye could see, she pounced forward, caught the fly and began eating it, head first.
Although I looked at her all the time, I did not see the deadly strike she delivered to the fly - it was so lightning fast, that everything was over in a split second.
But fortunately, she took her time to devour the prey, and so I could get some really neat shots of that. Well, nature is brutal - eat or be eaten.

You lookin' at me?!

So, we had a little portrait session today. And this is how it looks when you have good equipment - I am so thrilled with my new Nikon D5000.
The photos were all made with the phenomenal Nikon 85mm f/3.5G AF-S DX ED VR Micro Nikkor Lens, plus a macro extension tube (12 mm), and using a mono-pod.
I am still trying the best settings and techniques for these kinds of photos - it is so much fun, and I am learning so much in the process.
In the meantime, Madam has grown to approximately twice her former size already - soon, a macro lens will not be necessary anymore ... :)

Practicing ...

So, we both are kind of practicing our art right now - Madam, how to catch flies, and I, how to take pictures with my new gear of Madam trying to catch flies. :)
The new camera is marvelous - the picture quality is superb, the handling and operation is a dream, but with all new equipment, here too there is a learning curve. So my first attempts of shooting Madam with the macro lens ... well ... it's a learning curve. I'll probably need to use a tripod eventually. The depth of field of that macro lens is extremely shallow and it is next to impossible to get a correctly focused picture by hand-holding the camera. The picture below illustrates that perfectly - her left eye is sharp, everything else is blurred out of focus.

Today marked the first time that I actually saw Madam stalking a prey - those small shiny flies that buzz around the plant all the time. I thought that maybe those are still a bit too big for her, but she brought herself carefully in position, then stood there motionless before she began to rock back and forth ever so slightly. Apparently that is in preparation of her jumping forward, and doing that out of a back and forth motion should give her a little advantage, the split second that determines over live and death for the fly. Alas, several attempts were thwarted, because the flies didn't stay long enough for Madam to pounce on them.
I am really anxious to actually see her being successful at the hunt, because up until now I haven't seen her eat at all. Maybe she's a vegetarian ...

Not yet ...

So, yesterday came my new camera - Nikon D5000. But since then, I had no time to even open the package - so this picture is still with my old Finepix S100fs.
I hope that soon, I'll get some time to learn the tricks of the new Nikon, and then make those photos I have in my mind already.

Growing?

I don't know,  maybe it's just my imagination, but I think Madam has grown considerably in the last week. I should probably skip one photo and pull out the tape measure, instead - just to be sure. I do not have the faintest idea how fast these creatures grow, but with a lifespan of only a few months, things should happen rather quickly, right?

Fixin' to go to bed

This evening, 7:17 PM.

Sunbathing

This morning, 6:17 AM.
And yes, I am painfully aware that the window needs to be cleaned.

Do you see me?

One of the defensive strategies of the Mantises is to just disappear into the background. The camouflage that our Madam applies really works ...

I'm watching you!

Who is watching who? This time, a picture from inside the house through the window. I just ordered a new camera today - although it might appear that this photo is really good, I can assure you that this only is true at this size.
First of all, I had to crop a 4000x3000 pixel file to 677x961 pixels - otherwise the Mantis would have been only a green blob in a sea of green leafs. Then I had to shoot with ISO 400 again to get a manageable shutter speed. This of course means that there is considerable noise - visible if you blow the picture up to 100%.
Then there is the issue with focusing - because of all the leafs in the way, I have to disable the auto-focus and do it manually. No problem, if you have a DSLR with a good macro lens. which I don't have at my disposal now. My old trusty Nikon D70 has some kind of electronic hick up, which leads to all kinds of weird behavior. This is a known problem for this camera, and I already had it fixed once under warranty. But now, six years later, there is no warranty anymore, and also the technology has of course made giant  leaps in the meantime, so it is about time to replace this machine with something new and shiny.
But until this new wonder weapon arrives, I have to cope with the Fujifilm Finefix S100fs - which is a fantastic camera, but very frustrating for macro work.
First of all, the macro mode only works with the lower end of the lens, at 28 mm. Everybody who ever tried to shoot macro, knows that this is not what you want. Macro lenses are usually between 60 mm ans 200 mm.
Then, the camera has a manual focusing mode - which is frustrating to say the least. The focus ring does not work directly on the lens, but activates an electrical motor, which then in turn activates the lenses. Needless to say that adjusting the focus is hit and miss - well, more miss than hit.
The S100fs is a perfect example for an all-round camera, it is very good at most uses, but once you stray from the mainstream, it is merely adequate, or even not usable at all.
So, to make a long story short, for this kind of photographic experience, one most certainly  needs specialized equipment.

The prime directive

The report my death was an exaggeration, said Mark Twain. This is also true for our Madam Mantis.
Just out of routine I checked the leafs of the plant, not really expecting to see anything interesting - and there she was!
A quick check on the internet revealed that those creatures apparently strip their casings up to eight times in the process in becoming an adult.
What a marvelous turn of events!
Alas, the fat spider my wife thought she killed with a good spray of Windex, was still there. And dangerously close to our little Madam - see picture (upper left corner the spider, lower right corner the Mantis).
We only needed a few nanoseconds to decide that the prime directive of Star fleet, not to interfere at all costs with indigenous life, was not applicable here.
These were special circumstances, and to avoid a similar drama as had happened this morning, my wife - who usually handles the crawlys - went outside, clipped the leaf and released the spider into the grass. This day turned out to be o.k. after all ...

A catastrophy!

She is dead. Eaten by a fat, obnoxious spider. Which we promptly killed - yeah, I know, that's nature's law, eat and get eaten and all that crap. Nevertheless, here in Alabama we exact capital punishment on those who kill our family. It took no time to condemn that contemptible creature to it's rightful end.
I am really sad - this morning when I checked on her whilst the coffee was getting ready, she sat on a branch and seemed to enjoy the first rays of the sun. She even lifted her head a little bit, which she occasionally did when we stepped in her field of view.
Now, her lifeless shell twists in the wind, entangled in a spiderweb, sucked out by the now deceased critter. What a shame. This is a sad day.