Every year, the little child comes out in me and I place a praying mantis egg case in a glass jar on the corner of my desk. Weeks go by and like magic about 200 praying mantises appear. They are born, dry off in a short time and they are ready to take on the world. I release them in our garden and they spend the summer eating as many bugs as possible. They later make passionate love and the female bites off the head of the male. She later lays about 200 eggs in an egg pod that hatches the following spring. The little babies are so small and light they can walk on your finger like this one is on mine and you can’t even feel them.
I wish everyone the best of luck on some great entries this week and I am going to get to work coming up with 200 names.
Your comments are welcome.
JAlexander wrote:
Congratulations on all of the babies! Nice sharp focus on Jr. here! I like the perspective too.
Thank you Jane, and thanks to you I only have 199 names to go because our first born was named by you and his name is, JR.
It is too early for a lot of bugs so I am going to try some hamburger and see if that stops them from fighting with each other. Thanks again for your comments.
Tom
Canon ball wrote:
A very nice image (and a cool story!), I like it as is, but I wonder would the portrait orientation (JR climbing upwards) work better?
Thank you for your complements and comment. I was attempting to prevent the other 199 from getting out of the container and at the same time hold the little guy up to the sky and orientation was the last thing on my mind (just kidding)
The shot was the way I took it and I did think of rotating it but I decided to leave it as shot. It was a little challenging being the gate keeper, handler and photographer. Thank God for auto focus!
Thanks again,
Tom
Canon ball wrote:
A very nice image (and a cool story!), I like it as is, but I wonder would the portrait orientation (JR climbing upwards) work better?
Canon ball,
Thank you for our comments and after visiting the shot again, I agree with you and I selected another shot that I took at the same time but with a more natural orientation.
Thanks for your assistance,
Tom
Ianlacy wrote:
Awesome shot! Where do you get a praying mantis egg case? Sounds like a lot of fun
Ian Thank you for your complement and I am glad you like my entry. I have purchased then from a local bird supply store however the can be purchased over the internet. They are a lot of fun however when born too early like this year, they are a lot of work attempting to keep several hundred fed until they can be let go in the wild. I have been feeding them fruit flies and they eat a lot of them! My suggestion would be to keep the egg pods in a cool place until you think they will be safe to let go in the wild unless you want to go into the fruit fly business. Because my little buddies hatched so early this year, it think I will be going through the fruit fly stage and moving into the cricket stage before I get to let them go. Every year they start as little guys and end up as monsters at the end of the summer.
If you want to find some egg pods in your local yard, just check out my web site and look under critters. You will find one or two shots of egg pods that will help you recognize what the pods look like. It is quite easy to find them before the leaves come out but after they come out, don/t waist your time because you will never find them.
Good luck and thanks again for your comments
Tom
bouchto, I did like the original but, I think this one is even better. You've presented the scale of the baby mantis very well. Also the crop and body orientation give it a much stronger composition. Very nicely done
Tom.........love how you got this guy in mid-air!! The first was good too but I like this second entry better. Is this Jr. or Little Tyke?? 198 names to go
This is a note of thanks to all that took the time to view and some to vote for my little praying mantis and my WA entry.
I have been out of the WA activity for a while as my priority has been seeking employment in the quality management field. It has been a lot of fun connecting with everyone and taking a few shots of my mantises that hatched too early this year.
Thanks to everyone,
Tom
(just kidding)
