The Praying Mantis [Photo Series]
September 24, 2008, 2:35 pm |
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By Andrew L. Jaffee
Editor’s note: netWMD has decided to expand its horizons beyond political issues.
“Placing them in the same jar, the male, in alarm, endeavoured to escape. In a few minutes the female succeeded in grasping him. She first bit off his front tarsus, and consumed the tibia and femur. Next she gnawed out his left eye…it seems to be only by accident that a male ever escapes alive from the embraces of his partner.” Leland Ossian Howard, Science, 1886. …
[~from Serendip]
Eh, too much shock value. Apparently, this cannibalism can be an artifact of scientists observing mantids in captivity. Serendip continues:
Mantis scissor-hands. Photo © 2008 netwmd.com, LLC.
… Although the praying mantis is known for its cannibalistic mating process in actuality it only occurs 5-31% of the time. Especially in laboratory conditions of bright lights and confinement, the female is more likely to eat the male as means of survival. “In nature, mating usually takes place under cover, so rather than leaning over the tank studying their every move, we left them alone and videotaped what happened. We were amazed at what we saw. Out of thirty matings, we didn’t record one instance of cannibalism, and instead we saw an elaborate courtship display, with both sexes performing a ritual dance, stroking each other with their antennae before finally mating. It really was a lovely display” …
Look at the elegant, long articulated legs. Photo © 2008 netwmd.com, LLC.
I’ve been fascinated with the praying mantis since I was a kid. Not only do I find them to be spectacularly beautiful creatures, but they really look other-worldly, and that just excites my imagination. Watching creatures like the mantis stimulates positive energy within me — energy which I know non-rationally to be a natural product of observing the earth and its flora and fauna.
Look at the antennae on this mantis. Photo © 2008 netwmd.com, LLC.
When out for a hike in the back country, I get a sense of awe and respect for nature, and an implicit recognition that there is some higher power — an unspoken knowledge that there is more than meets the eye. I find it to be a reassuring feeling, along the lines of Albert Einstein’s quote, “God does not play dice with the universe.”
This winged mantis flew away. Photo © 2008 netwmd.com, LLC.
If you are interested in more information about mantids, please visit these sites:
Photo enthusiasts: These pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 40D DSLR with EF28-135mm lense.
Related: Environment, Photography
September 24th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
I left a 5 star review. This was new to me, and I agree with you about the awe and shock factor of being out in nature and seeing the power of God - a living, powerful creator at work in his creation. Too bad the lizards at LGF would go into meltdown to hear either of us speculating about a creator with intelligent designs.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Thanks for your kind words. I tire of being criticized for either being too much into spirituality or too little into spirituality. But to heck with the dogmatics — it’s a free country, after all.
September 25th, 2008 at 7:24 am
I’d say it was a brilliant moment of thunderstruck clarity, Andrew. I have always found such moments brief and shining and when you seize that moment to describe the clarity, the writing is also brilliant, too. And clarifying!
September 25th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Thanks Jewel. Check out our Photography category. I shared pictures of Quebec City and pictures of the 2008 Gathering of Nations (American-Indian dance festival) which I took over the last year. More coming, too. Enjoy! Please visit again.
September 25th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Aaah! I had read your Quebec City photo essay, and I had thought to myself, Where’s a gal to go with all that fluency in French? I have always found Canadian French to be quite friendly, myself, but that’s just a prejudice from speaking so much of their language! I do work among the Haitian immigrants here in Lancaster County, and they understand my Canadian French accent pretty well. I studied French when I was a young housewife living with husband and new twins along the Canadian border. We were 5 miles from Saskatchewan, and 60 miles from any inhabited town in Montana, no television and CBC Radion-Francais/Saskatchewan (sounds like a rebel radio station broadcasting instructions to the Maquis on where to surrender, doesn’t it.) I have been all over western Canada, and even have spoken to French Canadians there, but I have yet to go to Quebec. If the world doesn’t end tomorrow, I will find a reason to go.
September 25th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
You don’t need a reason. Enjoy life now before you’ll end up regretting that you didn’t go. Quebec is absolutely beautiful. My mad plan is to live summers in Quebec City, and stay the rest of the year here in the Southwest.
October 6th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Jewel - Thought you’d like to see my photo study of a male tiger swallowtail butterfly.