Tuesday 29 May 2012: Gotcha!
A praying mantis in the act of snatching a fly!
This mantis was in my camera sights and just as I pressed the shutter button I saw in the liquid crystal its upper body suddenly lunge sideways. I glanced up and was astonished to see that it had caught a fly! I was even more astonished when I downloaded the image and found that I had captured the capture.
I had the speed set too slow and the action is a bit blurred. The fly was furiously buzzing. Its wings are hardly visible. Note that even as she grabbed the fly the mantis had one eye on me.
The fly did not last long. A couple of minutes later the mantis let the wings drop and then she spent another minute thoroughly cleaning her face and the two powerful front legs.
Orthodera novaezealandiae
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