Lady-In-Waiting

Praying mantis, Orthodera novaezealandiae.

She is waiting for a meal to come within reach. Her swelling belly also makes me hope she is preparing to build an ootheca to lay eggs in. There have been precious few of her tribe about this season. Ootheca building.

Surprise, surprise! I saw a monarch butterfly! It is only the second one I have seen here for almost twenty years. I have long since given up growing their food plants. Sadly it didn’t stop. Seeing it over my back garden made me realise how big they are. At first I took it for a bird. What a beautiful thing it was.