This guy watching me was a big surprise for both of us, as we never expected to get such a great bonus.
All photos in here were taken on my camera's flash, as it was nighttime, and we only had a bit of light to play with.
My wife called me as she was at our car and she saw the mantis (A small Miomantis) sitting on a box in our garage. A big surprise was waiting for me, as I took the mantis outside and placed it on the granadilla fence.
I was so concentrating on the placing the mantis safely on the fence, That I didn't look above my hands. It was my wife standing right behind me that saw it. Look! She whispered,look above your right hand.
So, come and look at what happened.
Not often that one can find a praying mantis in your garage and I placed the little one on a tendril of the granadilla bush.
In the meantime, the little mantis climbed onto the wall, and I hope that you can see what was above my right hand.
There he was. A real big Marbled mantid (Polyspilota aeruginosa) was sitting and watching me putting the little fellow on the fence below him.
Of course he was upset, and he started climbing on to the wall. It was a first for me to get a mantis and a mantid together in the same picture.
These insects are very territorial. But how was I to know that he would be sitting above the exact spot that I chose to place the other little one, and I didn't see him.
Ooh, a Lacewing to my left, but I need to find my own space...oh for some peace and quiet! He was so angry that he went right past the Lacewing.
Are you still here? What is that bright flashy thing invading my fence and my territory?
In a huff, he climbed a little bit faster up the column.
And then it was all over, as both of the mantids made their way inside the granadilla bush.
Then later I heard a call; Munchens, please come and help!
Don't laugh as Munchens is her nickname for me.
As she switched the bathroom light on, something was coming down from the bathroom roof.
It was too high for her to reach, else she would have caught it on her own.
So I climbed on the toilet lid and reached across to break the silk thread that the spider was dangling from on its way down.
In the meantime, my wife was standing below me and I dropped the spider into the bucket, as you can see. We then put the spider outside.
Yes, not often that this happens and seeing two different species of mantids together, was a first for me. Had I known that big boy was up there, I would not have placed the little guy below him, as mantids are extremely territorial. And the little guy would have no chance if he fell into the hands of the big one. But I think that the small mantid was clever enough to get out of there in a hurry.
This is Africa. In fact, South Africa. And we have many species of insects and spiders here. Each of them performing a role in the eco-system.
The insect fauna of South Africa, currently comprises some 50 000 described species, a figure that under represents the actual number in the region, which is estimated as 250 000 species. Many groups have never been thoroughly studied, and the fact that a new insect order was discovered in the region, as recently as 2002, gives some indication of how poorly surveyed the insect fauna of Southern Africa is.
Source book: "Field Guide to Insects of South Africa" ISBN 978-1-77584-584-3.
And That's All Friends.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.
