Search results for 'praying mantis'

{praying mantis hatching}

20 Jun

i thought this would be a good post to celebrate the summer solstice! 😀

i have always been somewhat obsessed with the praying mantis. for as long as i can remember, i just thought they were so cool, and when i was a kid i used to look for them everywhere i would go! i saw one giving itself a bath one time and it was just about the most amazing thing ever. until i saw THIS! something i have had on my “bucket list” for a while…

backtrack a bit – when i lived in north carolina, a friend of mine found a praying mantis pod {aka ootheca} and saved it for me. i, of course, totally freaked out about it and immediately went to read about how to care for it… then i took a bunch of photos of it and eventually put in my garden…

i did not get to see that one hatch at that time, but this year… i totally made up for it. i found at least a dozen of these in my garden earlier this year. and in late spring, they all began to hatch… and all of these baby praying mantids started to emerge!

IT WAS SO COOL!!!

fun facts :

baby praying mantids are called nymphs. they hatch by the dozens {or sometimes hundreds} a while after the mama creates her ootheca pod {which tranlates to “a place to keep.”} praying mantids are so good for the garden! they are beneficial predatory insects… which basically means they prey the harmful insects which would otherwise harm or eat plants! and i just totally adore them!

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{praying mantis egg case : part 2}

3 May

garden season is finally here! which means my happiness meter just skyrocketed! 🙂

i recently gave my praying mantis egg case an apartment upgrade by relocating it to the community garden. i {safely} tied it to a trellis in my plot.

the praying mantis serves as a wonderful addition to any garden, since they are a beneficial insect. they prey on other insects that may otherwise be harmful to crops and soil.

plus, they are totally fascinating to admire and watch! and i am hoping i am able to witness the case hatch and capture it on film!

i will be checking on it regularly, so stay tuned for more updates!

#farmeraudrey

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{praying mantis egg case : part 1}

29 Apr

a good friend of mine recently gifted me with this very unique and beautiful creation from nature.

have you ever seen such a thing?! do you have any idea what it is?!

i suppose the title of this blogpost gives it away 🙂

this is a praying mantis egg case!!!

as many of you may know about me, i am somewhat obsessed with the praying mantis. i had never seen an egg case before, but i was completely thrilled when this showed up in my life! {i think i even cried a little}

and so of course, i had to take some {perhaps too many?!} pictures!

i think the details are just so mesmerizing and are something to behold and appreciate! Continue reading →

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{foto friday} – the time i watched a praying mantis bathe herself…

17 Aug

this was hands-down, one of the coolest things i’ve ever witnessed with my own eyes.

this post is kind of wordy – as i tend to be when i write.  get me in front of people for a speech?!  pffssthh, forget it.  i’m a hott mess.  but writing — now, writing i can do!

—

last year – around this time, a little later – i’ll say late september… i found a pregnant praying mantis on our front porch, just hanging out in the honeysuckle bush my roommate has planted by the kitchen window.  i about fell over.  i’ve had a total fascination with these neat little creatures my whole life… i never really understood what the draw to them was, but last year when i saw one i did a little research.  there are lots of different opinions and thoughts as to their symbolism.  they are said to bring stillness, sense of peace, and more internalized thinking.  because they are so mindful about their every move, the mantis is known in some parts of the world as being very spiritual and she is looked upon as almost a meditation resource. i thought i read somewhere that they can also represent death… a surrender, a letting go, etc. and ironically enough, i lost my grandmother about 2 months after i saw that praying mantis last year. Continue reading →

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{calvin the crazy caterpillar… and his shadow!}

21 Jun

crazycatepillar-1

 

you know i kind of have a thing for insects, right?!  did you meet adam ant… or francis the praying mantis?!

 

 

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{whatever wednesday} — just a rant about life… and living.

19 Sep

i’ve been thinking a lot lately.  about a lot, lately.

i don’t always have time to sit down and write – and i’m not even writing, i’m typing.  how did people WRITE back in the day?!  this is the kind of stuff i think about… i mean, i know how they did it – it just baffles me when i think about the fact that they did. it blows my mind how much we’ve advanced and yet how much we lack basic knowledge of what i would consider “common” things… for example, basic writing. at one point in our human existence, we had to take a pencil or pen and a whole ream of paper and sit and write what would now be viewable on a 30 plus inch screen.  what gets me all rant-y about it all is that we have no idea how great we have it… we fill our lives with meaningless crap and other people’s ideas of what “life” should be. and LIFE is so very simple, so very easy… if we can but let go and realize that we aren’t living it, IT is living through us… does that make sense? well, at least this is what i believe.

we get to breathe every day.  do you know how much has to exist, work together, and create inside of our bodies for that to happen? it’s ridiculous!  i wish i could go back to like, what? – 9th grade science – and learn all about the human body again… and really pay attention this time.

or just go the library and get a huge book on it.

or google the $h!t out of it. Continue reading →

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{wordy wednesday} – i am.

22 Aug

hello you faithful readers, you.

so much is happening. a lot of energy is coming from everywhere.

i have been through some of the worst – i mean, the worst depression of my life… i’m comfortable in saying that i’m out of it now. i don’t want to think it has potential to ever surface again, but i’m a rational person – it might. however, i feel so completely different lately that i don’t know if it will ever have as much reign over me as it did this bout.  i’m telling you, it was awful. be thankful i didn’t blog about it, even though sometimes i wanted to – just to get it out of my head.

whatever, i don’t want to waste too much energy even talking about the fact that i suffer{ed} from that horrible debilitating condition.  well, it’s the human condition, actually.  suffering, pain, fear, separation… we all deal with it, in some fashion. some of us talk about it, some of us take it out on others, some of us take it out with drugs, some of us live a secluded life avoiding interacting with anything or anyone at all…

i guess my point is, i have so much to write about lately because now that i’m out of that horrible dark tunnel, i see the light and it’s so incredibly bright i can hardly stand it.  it’s like my favourite quote –

“our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  it is our light, not our darkness, which most frightens us.”

yeah.  good stuff.  and so, i’m feeling somewhat like that – only, less afraid, more excited.  i’m like, “holy crap that light is so damn bright – i can’t wait to be sucked up in it and spitting it back out at everything i see!!!” Continue reading →

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