ain't she sweet?

I have never found or seen one of these beautiful insects in nature before...

Mantis - Mantodea

... but to be honest, the Mantis has found me. I was looking at a flower at the side of the path at the Reservoir when I noticed a movement right in front of my feet, which obviously was the Mantis. Such a small thing - I would never have seen her in the grass if her green color had not been brighter than the green of the grass.

❖ please click the image for fullsize view ❖
^{Canon EOS R | SIGMA 105mm 1:2,8 DG MACRO HSM
ISO 100 . f/5 . 1/160 sec . @105 mm}

I thought "will she bite me if I grab her?" But of course, I knew that Mantises don't bit people and they are not venomous either. So I put my hand in front of the green beauty and she climbed on it at once. It was still early in the morning and she might have liked the warmth of my hand.

❖ please click the image for fullsize view ❖
^{Canon EOS R | SIGMA 105mm 1:2,8 DG MACRO HSM
ISO 100 . f/5 . 1/100 sec . @105 mm}

Four hand held taken photos manually focus stacked in Photoshop. I thought I had taken a sharp photo of the middle part of the Mantis too 😉

I made a few quick hand held shots of her on my hand and then I put the Mantis on the flower below which she has been sitting in the grass, waiting for me to come by 😉

❖ please click the image for fullsize view ❖
^{Canon EOS R | SIGMA 105mm 1:2,8 DG MACRO HSM
ISO 100 . f/5 . 1/160 sec . @105 mm}

Two photos manually focus stacked in Photoshop.

All photos on this page are shot hand held and the two above are focus stacked images (Focus stacking - Wikipedia). I know they are far from sharp focus stacked images, but as said, I shot them hand held and the little green lady was moving on the flower.

❖ please click the image for fullsize view ❖
^{Canon EOS R | SIGMA 105mm 1:2,8 DG MACRO HSM
ISO 100 . f/5 . 1/400 sec . @105 mm}

After a few photos I took her and put the Mantis on another flower for some more photos and then I put her in the grass further away from the path. Now that I know that there are Mantises in that area I will certainly keep an eye open for them.
The whole photoshoot took about 10 minutes and I didn't stress the insect - if the Mantis had not wanted to climb on my hand I wouldn't have forced her.

❖ please click the image for fullsize view ❖
^{Canon EOS R | SIGMA 105mm 1:2,8 DG MACRO HSM
ISO 100 . f/5 . 1/250 sec . @105 mm}

Little Folks in the Grass
In the grass
A thousand little people pass,
And all about a myriad little eyes look out,
For there are houses every side
Where the little folks abide,
Where the little folks take tea
On a grass blade near a tree;
Where they hold their Sabbath meetings,
Pass each other, giving greetings,
So remember when you pass
Through the grass;
Little folks are everywhere;
Walk quite softly, take great care
Lest you hurt them unaware,
Lest the giant that is YOU
Pull a house down with his shoe,
Pull a house down, roof and all,
Killing children, great and small;
So the wee eyes look at you
As you walk the meadows through,
So remember when you pass
Through the grass!

^{by Annette Wynne}

❖ please click the image for fullsize view ❖
^{Canon EOS R | SIGMA 105mm 1:2,8 DG MACRO HSM
ISO 100 . f/5 . 1/160 sec . @105 mm}

Information

Location: My location on Google Maps

Mantis - Wikipedia
Focus stacking - Wikipedia

All my photos were shot with the Canon EOS R and one of these lenses: Canon RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS II USM, Canon EF 16-35mm 1:4 L IS USM, Canon EF 50mm 1:1.8 L STM, SIGMA 105mm 1:2,8 DG MACRO HSM, SIGMA 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM C.

I leave all EXIF and IPTC information stored in the pictures.

If you like my work I would appreciate an upvote, nice comment or maybe you want to share my post on your blog 😊 ... and maybe you would like to follow me, so that you never miss a post from me.

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^2020-08-14
^{#hive5 from Austria 🖐️}