Praying Mantis

Mantises have two grasping, spiked forelegs ("raptorial legs") in which prey items are caught and held securely. The first thoracic segment, the prothorax, is commonly elongated and flexibly articulated, allowing for greater range of movement of the front limbs, while the remainder of the body remains more or less immobile.
 The articulation of the head is also remarkably flexible, permitting nearly 300 degrees of movement in some species, allowing for a great range of vision (their compound eyes have a large binocular field of vision) without having to move the remainder of the body. As their hunting relies heavily on vision, they are primarily diurnal, but many species will fly at night.

One theory for the evolution of the species is that mantises evolved from proto-cockroaches, diverging from their common ancestors by the Cretaceous period, possibly from species like Raphidiomimula burmitica, a predatory cockroach with mantis-like forelegs.

Possibly the earliest known modern mantis is Regiata scutra, although more common (and confirmed) is Santanmantis, a stilt-legged genus, also from the Cretaceous. Like their close termite cousins, though, mantises did not become common and diverse until the early Tertiary period.

Mantises are exclusively predatory. Insects form the primary diet, but larger species prey on small scorpions, lizards, frogs, birds, snakes, fish, and even rodents; they will prey upon any species small enough to successfully capture and devour.

Most species of mantis are known to engage in cannibalism. The majority of mantises are ambush predators, waiting for prey to stray too near. The mantis then lashes out at remarkable speed. Some ground and bark species, however, pursue their prey. Prey items are caught and held securely with grasping, spiked forelegs.

Source: Wikipedia
Photos by M Smith

Morning, in all its glory

Kentucky - Bygone Days

Trumpet Vine

The trumpet vine or trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans), also known as "cow itch vine" and (in horticulture) as "hummingbird vine", is a large and vigorous woody vine of the family Bignoniaceae, notable for its showy trumpet-shaped flowers. It is native to woodlands and riverbanks of the southeastern United States, but is a popular garden perennial plant across much of the US and southern Canada, as some cultivars are hardy to as low as -30°F/-34°C.

The flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds, 
and many types of birds like to nest in the dense foliage.The flowers are followed by large seed pods.As these mature, they dry and split. Hundreds of thin, brown, paper-like seeds are released. 

The vigor of the trumpet vine should not e underestimated. In warm weather, it puts out huge numbers of tendrils that grab onto every available surface, and eventually expand into heavy woody stems several centimeters in diameter.It grows well on arbors, fences, telephone poles, and trees, although it may dismember them in the process. 


Ruthless pruning is recommended. Outside of its native range this species has the potential to be highly invasive, even as far north as New England. The trumpet vine thrives in many places in southern Canada as well.

Wikipedia
Image by Mary

Resurrection Lilly

Lycoris squamigera is believed to have originated in Japan or China, perhaps a hybrid between Lycoris straminea and Lycoris incarnata. It is a herbaceous plant with basal, simple leaves, which are not present when the flowers emerge from the crown. The leaves sprout and grow in the spring, then die back during June. Then in late July or early August the flowers appear. The flowers are white or pink and fragrant. The flowers spring dramatically from the ground in mid to late summer; it usually takes only four to five days from first emergence to full bloom. This suddenness is reflected in its common names: surprise lily, magic lily, and resurrection lily. It is also sometimes referred to as naked ladies.

Source: Wikipedia

Image by M Smith