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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Christina's Bugs

One of my pals at school has been finding Praying mantises lately.  This one was found on a nature trail not far from her house.  She "tortured" it by making it pose on her gorgeous dahlias.



This bold fellow was found in her house!  They're not native here so someone in the area must have purchased an egg case earlier in the year.
 
 
Also along the nature trail, she, her two very nice children and adorable dog, Link (here he is as a puppy.  He's much fluffier now and Christina won't send me any more pictures of him because she's afraid I'll steal him.) found  a Banded Alder Borer.
 
 
Isn't it beautiful?  Wikipedia says that the larvae of Rosalia funebris bore and eat wood but prefer dead trees to living ones so they aren't considered pests.  The adults feed on flowers though.  This was a new bug for me and I was excited to see the picture.  This Banded Alder Borer, we'll call her BABs for short hissed at the humans so they left it alone. 

Probably best not to pose this one on a dahlia aka lunch! 
 
Thanks, Christina, for sharing your bug pictures and for all the wonderful things you do for kids!  Have you seen any unusual bugs in your gardens lately?   Found any around town and brought them home to pose on you posies?  
 

20 comments:

  1. The two non-native species (chinese and european mantids) were both introduced decades ago and are well-established. I find their egg cases in my garden every year, and they are capable of surviving quite cold winters. On the east coast we also have the smaller native carolina mantis, but I have only seen one of them in 13 years of gardening here.

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    1. I've only seen one mantis here in western Washington before, years ago when I purchased an egg case. I understand that there is an introduced species that is widespread on the east side of the state. I wonder if, like most snakes, they don't like our wet winters?

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  2. Great photos, especially the third one of the mantis! Cute dog, too. I had marvelled at some huge grasshoppers (huge!) and took photos of them, then left them alone... Next thing I notice all the new growth on my almond tree (which is very young and can't sustain repeated attacks) and leaves on my cotton palm and citrus trees are looking ratty and eaten away... Got home early from work and look who was caught red handed! They're no longer welcome. They aren't scared of me though and won't budge when I try to shoo them away.

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    1. I wonder if they have a natural predator? Maybe you could carry a flame thrower, they don't so much like to be burned alive. Not so good for the plants either though.

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  3. I didn't think mantises were native to the PNW, I've never seen any in my garden. I wouldn't mind seeing a few, though, not necessarily because I'm plagued by plant-eating bugs (other than slugs), but just because they are fascinating. What fun to pose them on the Dahlia flowers!

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    1. They aren't native here but have been introduced by gardeners. I didn't think that they or their eggs would live through the winter but maybe. These could have been from an egg case hatched this spring by a gardener.

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  4. I watched a big praying mantis lie in wait for a hummingbird once and lost all respect for mantes.

    I have an interesting spider to post on my blog later.

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    1. Yikes! I didn't realize they could do that. I'll definitely not introduce them to my garden!

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  5. Spooky story from a friend: A huge mantis entered her bird cage hanging on the front porch one morning and ate her canary. This sounds like one of those Tall Texas Tales, but I see from Jean's comment that they also see hummers as food, so it may be true. Ghastly and grisly! Changed my view of praying mantises forever.

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    1. YIKES! You'd think they would have enough to eat with all those big bugs down your way. I'll content myself to release a few ladybugs each year and keep clear of these monsters.

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  6. Where I grew up, in the rural lands north of the Spokane Valley, we had grasshoppers everywhere. You couldn't walk down the road without zillions jumping every which way, many times toward you (not pleasant). Here in Portland seeing them is rare, so I was quite surprised when I went to water a few things Saturday evening and saw more than one jumping around my front garden. Kinda cute when they aren't attacking you.

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    1. Rare to see grasshoppers here too but I once saw one near the playground at school. I hear them chirping at night in more rural areas (or are those crickets?) Attack grasshoppers don't sound like much fun at all!

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  7. I love praying mantis and that one is particularly good-looking posed on top of the red and yellow dahlia. (Is he waving at the photographer?) BABs is also very interesting, although a bug that hisses would probably send me running!

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    1. The photographer said that the mantis attacked her after she took this picture. She said that he was probably flipping her off in this picture. Not knowing what BABs was, once it hissed, they moved away!

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  8. Praying mantis is such a cool bug! I wonder if they exist here as I've yet to see one in our garden,

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    1. They are very interesting indeed but some earlier comments telling of bird eating mantids have me thinking twice about my fascination with them.

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  9. My recent bug experience, as posted on my blog, was not fun. But I must admit, these are very cool bugs!

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    1. I remember reading about your unfortunate bug experience! I've noticed more dragonflies in my garden this year than in the past. Maybe there's more free airspace since I stopped feeding the birds (the rodents were all to happy with a free meal, too!)

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  10. Beautiful insects. Where are those Praying mantises native from?

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    1. The Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa) is native to Europe, but it was introduced into North America at the end of the nineteenth century. It can be found in the wild in most parts of eastern America, right up to Ontario. There is a Chinese mantis, introduced to the U.S. as a biological control in the mid 1800's, native to China and other parts of Asia and the Carolina Mantis, native to the U.S. They are interesting but as a biological control, not all that effective.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.