I was in the garden this morning, cutting some basil for my co-worker. As I closed the gate, something caught my eye. A small green twig (so I thought)! But this was no ordinary twig, it was moving, after closer inspection I realized --- it was a BABY PRAYING MANTIS! All the contemplating and wishing about getting one and here it was in my very own garden.
*no that's not my hand, I couldn't bring myself to touch it. But I'm naming her Mimi - the praying mantis!
Info. on mantises - notable for their hunting abilities. They are exclusively predatory, and their diet usually consists of living insects, including flies and aphids. Many gardeners consider mantises to be desirable insects, as they prey upon many harmful insect species. Organic gardeners who avoid pesticides may encourage mantises as a form of biological pest control. However, mantises prey on neutral and beneficial insects (doesn't matter my ladybugs flew away) as well, basically eating anything they can successfully capture and devour. Although their diet primarily consists of small invertebrates, large mantises have been observed eating small vertebrates such as lizards, mice, snakes, and small birds such as hummingbirds. (I only feel bad for the small birds and hummingbirds - but I don't have flowering plants and it's so small now, that I don't think it will cause too much damage.)
2 comments:
All this talk of bugs and insects makes me not want to have a garden of my own anymore...not to mention WORM POOP! I can't handle it.
It's healthier than using toxic insecticides. You get over it. It's like picking up dog poo or changing a babies diaper. You become desensitized :D
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