Tag Archives: Praying Mantis

Looking back at 2023

Late afternoon sun of the coast of Kohala, Hawaii
January: Approaching sunset off the Kohala coast (link).
A chocolate birthday cake
February: A yummy birthday cake (link).

Sunday Stills challenge theme this week and next week is ‘Your 2023 Year-in-Review.’ See more responses here. As before, I’m going with a favorite photo from each month of 2023, with a caption and link to the post the photo first appeared in. This week, I’m posting favorites from January through June. See the rest of the year next week.

A praying mantis drinks from a puddle of water
March: Time for a drink (link).
A manta ray swims in the waters off Hawaii
April: Meeting a manta (link).
Piglets wrestle for a mango
May: They’re not cute and funny these days (link)!
Leis draped on King Kamehameha statue
June: The king’s birthday (link).

Praying Mantis waiting

A praying mantis in an agave attenuata
A praying mantis in an agave attenuata

This Praying Mantis spent several days on this Agave Attenuata, waiting patiently for food. There were bees all over the flowers and I think the mantis got some of them, as well as other insects.

I presumed the mantis was a female as it seemed to be getting bigger. A couple of days after taking these photos, the mantis disappeared but I saw an egg sac on a nearby tree, so maybe there will be more on the way!

Praying Mantis being shadowed

A Praying Mantis casts a shadow on a railing in Hawaii

It’s the end of another month and time again for Bushboy’s Last on the Card challenge. (See more responses here.) The top photo is the last one I took in May, a Praying Mantis that’s lucky to be alive after I nearly squashed it with a water bottle on the railing where it was perched.

The bottom photo is how I think the photo looks best, cropped and adjusted to focus attention on the mantis and its shadow.

A Praying Mantis casts a shadow on a railing in Hawaii