Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Bugs & Birds

Yesterday there was a new visitor to the hummingbird feeder...


One of the hummingbirds was not impressed with him. He flew in and pecked at the praying mantis a few times, then settled on the opposite side to drink. I think he chose the feeder on the porch for the rest of his meals.

By late afternoon the praying mantis climbed down from the tube and settled on the perch. When I woke up this morning he was still there, but hanging upside down from the bottom of the feeder. I think they are the most fascinating bugs!


Meanwhile, on the pottery front, the kiln was firing and we took advantage of the cooler, drier air and did some studio cleaning. The place was a mess since the rush to get to NH this summer. There is more work to do but it was looking much more organized by the end of the day. 

8 comments:

  1. O yes to a mantis. They are certainly welcome visitors.

    Proge looked at it and says it's female. You count the ridges on the under side and the 'tail' part is broader.

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  2. Suzie, thank you for the info on the mantis. I think this is only the second one I have seen since moving here. I am wondering why she is hanging around the feeder.

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  3. Our hummingbird feeder attracts a lot of insects including ants. Praying Mantis eat bugs so she's probably taking advantage of those that come to your feeder. It's very cool that she's there anyway.

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  4. P.S. It's six for females and eight for males.

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  5. Never knew how to tell if a mantis was female, good for Proge, ah the weather is finally nice to relax in.

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  6. Mmmm, if the only thing that tells the boys from the girls is the number of stripes that the mantis have on the tail, then you may have unearthed evidence of that they can count, and that the female mantis is superior at math than the male, in that she needs to be able to count up to eight in order to find a male, where as the male only has to count to six!
    :)

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  7. One of my favorite bugs. I love a good mantis.

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