Once in a while I catch wind of a critter I've never heard of before. Today I learned about the Conehead praying mantis (Empusa pennata).
This insect is so bizarre-looking that I legitimately thought this was an AI image at first. Nope, it's real, and lives around the Mediterranean in Southern Europe and Northern Africa.
Even Wikipedia describes them as having an "alien" appearance. No argument there.
Nature is amazing.
Look, I'm permanently traumatized by the Giant House Spider.
ReplyDeleteI've seen those, or something like them. They're mimicking the flowers they hunt among, which, I suppose being in a warmer climate, bloom for a long season. Truly amazing creatures.
ReplyDeletesheilab15
Mantis' are amazing creatures. This variety is a new one for me, too. I look forward to their hatching each year. Their first meal is usually a sibling, I have read. We see them around all summer, steadily growing. One year we saw a couple doing a mating and bobbing type of dance as they stared each other down. It was a slow process. When we checked on them later, they were in the act. The romance music was playing and all was happy in bug land.
ReplyDeleteThey hunt bumble bees. We have found them eating bees many times. They save the legs with the full pollen sacks for dessert. Not a happy sight. We need the pollinators!🐝
He's got a face made for radio
ReplyDeleteProbably where they come up w/ some of the sci-fi horror movie creatures.
ReplyDeleteDebbie in MA