A Japanese Giant Mantis - 大かまきり

The rescued Mantis on our hanging flower basket

Daisy has discovered in our garden this past week (on November 18th), a Japanese Giant Mantis, which I suppose is the Japanese version of what is called a Praying Mantis in America. She sniffed it out and picked it up in her mouth, perhaps thinking it would make a good thing to play with, since everything is 'funny' to Daisy. I quickly noticed she had something new and of great interest, as she was proudly trotting around the garden like she had just discovered a treasure. Thankfully she was carrying it gingerly in her mouth. So I ran over to her and rescued the poor creature.

We have a little hanging basket of flowers that usually has some little bee or butterfly buzzing around it so I put the Mantis there. All week it has been staying on the basket, moving around I imagine getting something to eat. We have had nice sunny days for about a week now, with temps around mid to high 60's (that's Fahrenheit, which is about 14-16 C). Normally I don't think that we would see a Mantis in the garden this time of year.

I checked one of my favorite blogs that has info on nature in Japan and found that the man who writes that blog also found a Giant Mantis on Nov 25th, although where he is located in Japan it tends to be a bit warmer than where we are (click here natural-japan.net, or see sidebar link, under "My Favorite Web places").

Wonder how long this one will make it into winter. Temps are supposed to 'plunge' from today we heard on the news last night.....We will keep an eye on it (I think it's a 'she').

If looking at 'bugs' close up doesn't bother you, click on the photos to enlarge!

The Mantis a few days after it's rescue, watching some little bees flying around the flowers.

The Mantis today, Dec 3rd. Seems it is trying to stay dry and out of the rain today, hanging on the underside of the basket.

UPDATE: Dec. 5th; The Mantis was found dead today, not surprisingly since it's been very cold at night now. Hopefully we will find some of it's offspring in the garden when the weather warms up in a few months.