In nature, strange things can land on your head.
Wait! she said, give me your camera, as there is something on your head.
We were standing under a tree, as I was waiting for a sunbird to land on a pincushion flower. It was a hot day, and one dare not wait in the blazing sunlight as it is very dangerous for one's skin. It is not the sun itself that is the problem, but rather it's UV rays that damage the skin. So, it is best to stand under a tree in the shade, but then one has to be prepared for spiders to drop down from the tree on to one.
This time round it was not a spider, and as you will see below what landed on my head was a welcome guest. A brave little guy, and I waited patiently for it to fly away. But no, it rather decided to climb down from my hat on to my shoulder, and then it made its way down on my arm. As soon as it came within reach, I put my hand in front of it, and without a thank you it climbed on to my hand. So, come and see.
It was a Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa) of the Mantadea Order, and the three photos below were taken by my wife with my camera.
Check out that lovely shadow.
It tickled a bit when it crawled down on my neck:)
Can you believe that the female eats the male after they have mated?
Mantises are mostly ambush predators, but a few ground-dwelling species are found actively pursuing their prey. They normally live for about a year. In cooler climates, the adults lay eggs in autumn, then die. The eggs are protected by their hard capsules and hatch in the spring. Females sometimes practice sexual cannibalism, eating their mates after copulation.
And then she gave me my camera, and I took the rest of the photos.
Did I tell you that he was a brave little guy, and here he looked into my eyes.
I maneuvered him on to my hand, and got him ready to depart.
Then I put him on to this strelitzia flower, also called a paradise flower.
But he didn't like it, and he climbed on to a stalk of the plant.
Yep! I am sure that the little chap will survive there.
I still wonder why the female would eat the male, but maybe this is how they pass on the male's genes into her eggs. But still, I would hate my partner to eat me after we have copulated:) Nature is filled with secrets, and most anything that one can see does not look as innocent as it should be, according to us as humans. Scientists continue to discover many of these secrets, and most are found to be beneficial for human health. Such is life.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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