What bugs ya? or slow day in the shop

[Beap52 1,655]

Found a praying mantis on the shop floor today.  I don't have much of a project going other than trying to solder some LED lights to make them blink or represent a campfire for the model train layout.  I wrote "trying" because, it's getting harder to see where to solder and then my hands don't seem to  be as steady as I need to solder these tiny connections.  Thus I decided to take a break and that's when I found this praying mantis.  It was probably 3~3 1/2" long. 

 

This bug entertained me off and on all afternoon.  It didn't seem to have any place to go and spent most of the day on the spare folding chair in the shop.  The most it moved was when I put it on the back of my hand and it would immediately crawl up the sleeve of my flannel shirt to which, up near my shoulder, I would allow it to crawl up onto the back of my other hand where it would start it's journey again.  

 

I killed a fly and a fed it to the mantis and a dying cricket as well.   As I watched, it  would use it front legs to hold the back legs and bring them to his face for grooming.  It's days are numbered because we are expecting low twenties early next week.  

 

I zoomed in close and made a video of this creature so that the grandkids enjoyed at supper this evening.  They were fascinated and so was I.

[ebinmaine 74,553]

Awesome. 

We like bugs here too. 

 

Trina's really good at zooming in for the right shot.  

For scale, the "rope" is a shoelace. 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 29,331]

@Beap52 you're lucky... if she was courting you and had succeeded, she would have eaten you. 

[Treepep 839]

On 11/6/2025 at 4:41 AM, ebinmaine said:

Awesome. 

We like bugs here too. 

 

Trina's really good at zooming in for the right shot.  

For scale, the "rope" is a shoelace. 

 

 

Beautiful I think crab spider.  Love them all .  Spiders are my favorite!

[kpinnc 15,702]

On 11/5/2025 at 8:34 PM, Beap52 said:

The most it moved was when I put it on the back of my hand and it would immediately crawl up the sleeve of my flannel shirt to which, up near my shoulder, I would allow it to crawl up onto the back of my other hand where it would start it's journey again. 

 

Pretty cool he let you hold him. They are either skiddish or aggressive when I go near them. Of course looking like a big ape doesn't help me... 

 

Praying Mantis are awesome. Thank goodness they don't get any bigger! 

[ebinmaine 74,553]

6 hours ago, kpinnc said:

any bigger

 

Up here the females (pictured) will get maybe half that size by mass. Ours are much shorter too. I don't recall ever seeing  a mantis longer than my pinky.  

[Bar Nuthin 1,485]

I haven't been able to identify this one. 

 

 

[wallfish 18,625]

COOL !!!!

We don't see as many Mantis now as before. It used to be a couple to a few a year but now it's 1 every couple to a few years. Same for the Luna Moth. 

Back when we were kids in the 70's every car would be splattered with bugs all over the front and windshield just by a single road trip. Now, a whole summer's worth a driving doesn't equal 1 night. Modern aerodynamics would have some effect but still...  

[lynnmor 8,084]

2 hours ago, Bar Nuthin said:

I haven't been able to identify this one. 

 

 

 

Acanthocephala declivis

[kpinnc 15,702]

7 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

don't recall ever seeing  a mantis longer than my pinky.  

 

They get kinda big here. Up to nearly a foot. Even crazier when you see how little they start out.