Today I want to show you 1 of my Stapelia.
Stapelia is mainly found in South and South-West Africa.
The flower of the Stapelia not only has an unpleasant smell (reminiscent of the smell of spoiled meat) but also releases heat as during the chemical process of decay, which attracts flies for pollination.
I really like the flowers of the Stapelia, but these nasty flies, fu! But when they laid their eggs - this was the limit of my patience.
I could not stand it, I sprayed flowers with spray from flies.
Luckily, the Staleline survived!
My stapelia had a lot of buds. There was a question, what to do: again to sprinkle flowers with a spray or simply to take and cut off all buds? I was afraid that I could ruin a plant.
But the question was decided by itself!
To me to help prishol mantis!
It was very interesting for him to watch how he catches flies!
I do not know if he will stay with me permanently or will come for breakfast, lunch and dinner :-)
During the photograph, the mantis turned to me.
I think that this happened for two reasons:
Maybe he posed for me, imagining himself a model?
Or did he see me as a competitor in his food and think about a plan for protection?
