giant wood spider, Nephila maculata
This spider is already a fixture in our vegetation under tree canopies. Wikipedia provided at least 22 names (synonyms) for this species. It is a female, a great size compared to its male counterpart, the small red at its left. As kids we are scared of this because of its size and its very sticky webs, which are difficult to remove when you happen to stick on it. Its bite is reported to be slightly poisonous. I love this shot for the different colors behind it.
this spider is lovely but i can't take a bigger shot with my lens
I had fun making this praying mantis make different stunts or poses for me. I think this pose is its signal that it is ready for an attack, as it was getting angry with my prodding to change position. I have seen 3 colors of the mantis, this one, the fully brown, and the fully green. This time i can't locate the mature stages of the other 2. At the bottom is a juvenile green praying mantis, now praying that i will not harm him.
This swallowtail, Papilio alphenor-female, is common in our garden although not many of them at once. Four is the most number i see them flying at the same time. We have a few species of citrus which are host plants for them.
A not so welcome inhabitant of our garden is this fly. They suddenly become plenty when a lot of mango fruits are decaying on the ground.
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Very interesting shots, especially the praying mantis pics.
ReplyDeleteIt's Charlotte!!! I love your praying mantis. We have these guys around our garden as well. They are really cool looking. So here's what I'd do with the mango situation...eat all of them so that the flies will never get at them:)!! Because let's face it. Mangos are delicious!
ReplyDeleteHi Andrea, The first shot is really pretty with all those colorful bokeh. You finally came up with a great collection of macros which you previously claimed impossible to take. I have stopped looking at macros for now.
ReplyDeleteYour praying mantis shots are fabulous.
Yogi - thanks for coming over, and your kind words.
ReplyDeleteChris - i love calling you Kreesh, i like that name, next time I have a pet i will call it that. What is Charlotte? We cannot eat all the mangoes, it is not the variety we like. We call it Indian mango, actually 'Katchamita' variety, which is good only when half ripe. Nobody wants to buy it because everybody has their own trees, and it fruits a lot!
One - these are not macro shots, only a bit close-up. Macro shots use macro lenses, and are really very close. Real macro shots are the likes taken by Rosie of leavesnbloom and some of Donna's.
The docent at the monarch preserve told us the milkweed attracts them.
ReplyDeleteThis is a different color of a swallow tail, I have seen a blue one. On the praying mantis, I have not seen a pinkish color, usually its green.
Sorry, I can't help reading some comments.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte is the name of the spider of the book Charlotte's Web.
Ebie - thanks for your reply, haven't read that. I hope Chris will read your reply too, haha! There are actually many types of swallowtails, and we have a few in the province. Most larvae of butterflies have very specific host plants. The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexipus-Danainae)larvae feeds on the milkweed. This swallowtail is a female Papilio polytes of Family Papilionidae. It feeds mostly on citrus.
ReplyDeleteTropical insects are superb (except for the fly!) :) I remember playing with praying mantis' before, fascinating creatures!
ReplyDeleteAle masz wspaniałych "gości" w ogrodzie, jedni mile widziani inni nie. Dla mnie piękny motyl jest gościem nr 1. Modliszka robi różne akrobacie i to się miło ogląda. Pozdrawiam. *** But you have a wonderful "guest" in the garden, some welcome, others not. For me, a beautiful butterfly is the No. 1 guy Mantis does different akrobacie and it looks nice. Yours.
ReplyDeleteThose are beautiful colors behind the spider. I'd be afraid of it too-it's pretty big!
ReplyDeleteAndrea I adore your critters...spiders are a bit creepy but so fascinating and I love their webs...
ReplyDeleteThat is a very beautiful photo of the spider web. I guess praying mantises are very widely distributed as yours looks just like ours.
ReplyDeleteGreat mantis photos dear Andrea! Oh, they can be scary. I have seen a video of one catching and eating a hummingbird! They would make a quick snack of my butterflies! Thanks for the link to the fantastic butterfly blog!! AND as always your kind comments. Carol
ReplyDeleteInteresting pictures of small creatures!
ReplyDeleteI love the swallowtail! Beautiful wings! Almost looks like it's ready for a formal black-tie affair.
ReplyDeleteAll photos are beautiful in your blog, but in your last post the photo
ReplyDeleteof a butterfly, in my opinion, is the greatest.
Enjoy the weekend.
You got wonderful pictures from your garden. I was interested in hearing how you got the Praying Mantis to pose for you. Your photo of the spider and its web is marvelous.
ReplyDeleteWHat amazing shots - so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shots, Andrea! Nice job!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos and critters. They have me longer for warmers days.
ReplyDeleteAwesome capture!
ReplyDeleteFur Baby for camera critters. Looking forward to your visit.
ha ha - sounds like you gave that praying mantis a hard time.
ReplyDeleteGreat photo. That web is beautiful with all the colors. I love your shots of the pretty female mantis. Be nice to the praying mantis, they eat harmful insects in the garden.
ReplyDeleteAndrea, Lots of interesting creatures here. Spiders scare me because I have been bitten more than a few times. We don't have poisonous spiders here, but the bites can really hurt and swell up. We also don't have many Praying Mantis. They are such fascinating, slightly scary looking bugs. Love your butterfly shot.
ReplyDeletePraying mantis don't live in our climate. It is great to come here to see a picture of them.
ReplyDeleteYour garden critters tell me stories. So nice to have a look into their world.
ReplyDeleteHi there - I have just returned from the wild, woolly and less that wonderful world of wireless only internet - so now I'm catching up.
ReplyDeleteGreat set of shots – I like finding things in the back yard as well. We often find Praying Mantis on our fly wire doors. Butterflies are not a spectacular as yours though!
Cheers - Stewart M - Australia
What a beautiful swallowtail! I love seeing the amazing variety of the critters in your garden!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen a brown mantis before. What a delight.
ReplyDeleteAndrea, I love the shots of the praying mantis.
ReplyDeletei enjoyed your praying mantis so much.
ReplyDeleteHey again everyone, it looks like the prayer mantis has the most number of fans, haha! My efforts to coax her (thanks to Squirrel for telling us it's a female) make different poses is worth it! Actually, it is also my first time to see that color, as we mostly have the green.
ReplyDelete