There are those whom we call friends but who act very differently and there are those who look nothing like friends but are true friends, standing by your side and supporting you in every way. Here is one of my friends in the garden who has been hanging around for generations. I am being honest, I have seen a few of his ancestors in the last eight years since I started my terrace garden.
I don't know why I am always fascinated by these praying mantis. I see them almost everyday in my garden, sometimes small, sometime huge, but they always surprise and fascinate me. I never get bored of them or get so used to them that I overlook them. Perhaps it is their eyes, the way they turn their heads and look at me or perhaps how they try to pretend that they are a part of the plant in which they live.
I know a praying mantis when I see one. I never fall for the show they put on. Have you ever played this game 'statue' the ones small kids play? When the person who is out says statue we need to strike a pose and pretend to be a statue, the one who blinks first or moves first get out. This is one of the favorite games of these praying mantis. They pretend to be a leaf (they are designed to be that way see some of the images below) even though this one looks like a dried leaf or a part of the stem and they do a good job of it, But I am never fooled by their moves.
However, it's how they change colors that always fascinates me. I have seen them looking yellow in a sunflower, here on a wilted rose they put on the a dull rose color. They are normally green when they are hanging around tender shoots. I don't know how they do it but they do it better than the chameleons I'd say.
Right now in the middle of winter we have a lot of aphids attacking our roses and other vegetables. These praying mantis feast themselves on those aphids. I am not doing much to contain the aphids at the moment, I see a number of praying mantis in the garden fighting my battles for me. when I have friends such as these, I don't really have to worry too much. I might have to later if the number of aphids increase but that is unlikely as we have a number of big and small praying mantis as permanent residents of my garden. I just let these guys feast on aphids and multiply. I sometimes wish that they praying mantis had the same kind of appetite for the mealy bugs which are a bigger threat in my garden.
These alien looking creatures blend and adapt themselves to their environment quite easily. The only thing I hate about these guys is when they jump on me when I least expect them to be there. They often catch me by surprise when I am closely inspecting my plants for bugs. These praying mantis jump on me (probably because I scared them in the first place by my messing around with their habitat) and dig their claw like feet into my skin. I don't scream or shout, but I do jump in surprised and shake these off my body. This happens so often in my garden, I am yet to get used to this little annoyance.
Look at the leaf like wings of the praying mantis
I know these guys are my friends in the garden, they love aphids as much as I hate them. They act on aphids and stop them from attacking my plants just as much I do, they have aphids for breakfast, lunch and dinner and I love their diet. I may not follow their diet but I encourage them to have a healthier appetite.
Live and let live and you'll have fun, maybe even a good photo shoot like this one I had today.
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All images used in this post belong to me and have been taken on my phone or on my cannon 1100 DSLR. These images cannot be used without my express written consent.