Thursday, January 16, 2014

Arthropod of the Week, or, Brief Distractions from the HellWeather (TM)

I accidentally watered this lady while trying to resuscitate a roasted abutilon last night. She didn't look like she minded too much. 

I can't quite work out what her name is. She looks like a false garden mantis – Pseudomantis albofimbriata for those who talk fancy zoological Latin and/or can use google. Only I can't see the bit of her that's meant to be albofimbriated (or, y'know, white around the edges). The photos of P. albofimbriata on ye olde internet show chaps with yellow elbows and knees, not the violet bits this gal's got going on.


Anyway, I find myself suspecting she had something to do with this:


I'm indecorously pleased at the thought of curious green insects breeding in the front yard. To be honest, I'm pretty pleased about anything breeding in the front yard, with a few obvious exceptions (anopheles mosquitoes, tsetse flies, local youth). It's a credit to the way we keep our herbage that the critters would think our wooden garden stake sufficiently ambient for a bit of romantic ovipositing.

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