Praying Mantis

Orthodera novaezealandiae

Here is an adult praying mantis standing next to a newly built nursery.  I assume it is a female that has built the nursery, but I didn't actually see her doing it.  She is very thin.  All that had to come from her own body.

If you look at the photo in large you can see the 18 or 20 chambers in the nursery.  Each will have an egg waiting to hatch when the temperatures are suitable.


The mating shot shows how fat the female gets.  That particular female had another male waiting his turn.


Other mantis shots are-

Mating
Wings open
Babies hatching