Thursday 13 March 2008

New Zealand Praying Mantis

Yesterday I wrote a post entitled Praying Mantis. It was the first Praying Mantis I'd seen in the wild. What a surprise I had, therefore, when I went up to Wendy and Martin's last evening and there on the bargeboarding was another one. It wasn't the same type however. It was a New Zealand Praying Mantis (Orthodera novaezealandiae). You may recall that that's the one where the female doesn't generally eat the male after mating (or any other time for that matter). The two types can be differentiated by the presence of a blue/purple spot on the New Zealand one's front legs and it's broader 'neck' (I'm not sure what that part of an insect is called).

The pictures are not as clear as I would have hoped but for once I didn't have my camera in my hand and borrowed one with a 3X zoom. The Mantis was a metre or so away from the camera and it was evening. In the circumstance I was pleased with the result.


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