Thankful Sunday, October 20, 2019

I am thankful for little things.

Yesterday was a busy day. Besides yard work, errands, and laundry, we were getting ready for a birthday dinner we were having for my sister.  Throw in a bad cold and it was turning out to be a rather tedious day. 

In the afternoon while I was folding laundry, my son called me to the back deck where he showed me a praying mantis on the railing.  It seemed to be enjoying the sunny spot it found on the cool day. We saw praying mantes frequently at our old house, but this was the first one I had seen in our yard since we moved.

Finding that small wonder of nature made me happy.  Sometimes it's the little things that can bring a smile to my face and for that, I am thankful.

A Second Look--October 1, 2014

Here are a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

By the time I got outside this week for a Second Look, dusk was approaching. Consequently, it was hard for me to get many good pictures with my unsteady hands and point and shoot camera. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my look.

It's easy to see from this balloon flower bud why it is called a balloon flower.

This is the first mum so far to bloom.

As the mums are beginning to bloom, the sedum is turning darker red while some has already turned brown.

Japanese Maple. Most of our maple trees produce seeds during the early summer. However, the Japanese maple produces them in the early fall.

Poke berries--a favorite of many birds and animals.

Praying mantis hiding in the grass. I've wondered why some praying mantises are green and some are brown. After a bit of research, I couldn't find a definitive answer. In our area, we have several different kinds, and apparently different kinds have different coloring. One site said that if there is good moisture, they are green and if it is dry, they are brown. Another said that as they age they turn from green to brown.

Praying Mantis Grooming

Recently Ward and I were outside doing a bit of work when I spotted a praying mantis. The first thing I noticed was that it blended perfectly with the plant it was on. It even had a bit of red on its head to match the red on the leaves. As we were marveling at that, it started to do something that we hadn't seen before. It started to groom itself. At least that's what it looked like. It was biting up and down it's legs and looked just like our cats do sometimes when they are cleaning their legs. And then, ever so cat like, it rubbed it's clean leg over it's head--just like our cats do. We were fascinated.

We had never thought about an insect grooming itself, but that is certainly what it looked like. A quick look on the internet revealed, that yes, indeed, praying mantises do groom themselves. In fact, when I widened the search to include all insects, I found out that grooming is something that many insects do. Who knew? I certainly didn't. From a brief skimming of the articles, it looks like the antennae are what are groomed the most because these are very important in transmitting sensory information. Cock roaches have had several studies done about them in this area.

I don't know if you can make out much from these pictures below, but trust me, it was very interesting to watch. Now I'm going to be on the lookout to see if I can observe grooming in other insects. Do you ever wonder how you can have lived so long and not know anything about something that is very common? It seems to happen a lot to me. I'm not sure what that implies, but I do know that it keeps life interesting.

When you first look, it's hard to see, but notice the praying mantis' triangular head is in the bend of its raised leg. This was part of its leg cleaning.

Notice the praying mantis is biting its leg. It did this all up and down it's leg.

Annie grooming her head and ears. This kind of grooming I'm familiar with.

Want to explore further?

Insects Groom to Improve Their Sense of Smell

Praying Mantis Grooming Video