Another mantis shot.
We are inundated with praying mantises this year. So many my dog stepped on one while walking. (It was okay, to my surprise.) I daily help at least one mantis across the road. In just the past few days I’ve seen them on our fence, our mailbox, on various trees and shrubs.
They are everywhere.
Curiously, we’ve also had a (very welcome) uptick in honeybees and monarch butterflies. Why? No idea. I usually spy a couple monarchs a day. And honeybees — dang, if I took all the honeybees I’ve seen in the last 5 years and added them up, they would still fall seriously shy of how many I’ve seen this summer. They are everywhere around here. It’s been good.
I’m sure it’s some apocalyptic burst: the insects have figured out that THE REIGN OF MAN IS AT AN END, and they’re retaking territory. But hey, whatever, they deserve it.
ANYWAY, still sick over here, still on deadline, so go forth and have a good one. Maybe I’ll see you at B&N Bethlehem (4-6pm) this Saturday, or B&N Rittenhouse next Tuesday giving big ups to Fran Wilde’s Horizon launch, byeeeee.
decayingorbits says:
It must be that new species of Africanized Mantis that is a cross-breed with the tarantula hawk.
September 18, 2017 — 8:33 AM
Andrew T says:
I left out an egg case early summer, but I don’t know what happened to my mantids. I saw two freshly hatched ones crawling across the small channel of grass between the lilac bush where I put the egg case and my garden, but since then I haven’t seen any. Oh well, the ladybugs came en masse to my garden’s rescue (including the biting asian lady beetles that are tarnishing the good reputation of our native North American lady bugs).
September 18, 2017 — 10:18 AM
Terry Hickman says:
That’s a very demure-looking mantis.
September 18, 2017 — 1:37 PM
scribblescribbleblog says:
I would call his expression quizzical. He looks rather an elder statesman mantis, out to flatten a bumptious journalist.
September 18, 2017 — 5:58 PM
butterfly1210 says:
I think the mantis looks sexy
September 22, 2017 — 1:48 PM
Meg Moore says:
I just read this article and immediately thought of you!
https://nyti.ms/2yie1i2
September 25, 2017 — 1:12 PM
The Beardly Writer says:
I once found a praying mantis resting above my apartment door. I considered leaving it alone but couldn’t handle the thought of it falling onto my head. In a decidedly cruel moment, I grabbed some paper towels, grabbed it and crushed it in my hand. I threw it in my kitchen garbage, the kind that comes with a locking lid, and went into my bedroom. I came out an hour later to find the FUCKING THING STANDING on top of the garbage can as if nothing happened to it.
I gently picked him up and released him into the grass outside. I will never again fuck with a praying mantis. They are immortal magicians.
September 27, 2017 — 10:55 AM