Say Hello to My Lil Fren......

[olderthandirt]

Went out to check on a late bloomin' Northern Light ...

and noticed ...

? .... Oh!

Not sure what it may be feeding on, mayhaps it's just passin' through.

Natures lil' travelin' pest management (-:

 

[Jraven]

Beautiful bug brother. Doesn't look like anythings chewing on your plant but if there is he'll find it.

 

[olderthandirt]

Pissed it off getting in its face when takin' the pics so it flew off. While I've seen nary a pest, knock wood, I still hope it comes back!

 

[Waira]

Super cool OTD! I love Mantis', one of my very fav' critters along with jumping spiders- That's a nicely colored and sizable one you got there... here in CA, they're native inland but not usually found near the coast, but over the last few years, I started seeing them show up... never saw them locally before 'til then! I'm not sure if it's natural, or more likely, they're native species used for pest control you can buy at garden centers these days, and have naturalized... here's one on last years Green Poison...

>>> and just yesterday, managed to finally snap a few shots of the jumpers that have been surprisingly common on my plants this year... this beauty lead me on a merry chase, let me tell you! Their vision is so acute and sensitive, if you don't move slowly-- just right, they dodge, dive and scuttle away to evade you! They KNOW you're looking at them ... color rendering of the camera sucks, this one was actually a nice rich red color,...

 

[olderthandirt]

Per the ag extension service the two most likely varieties here in Oregon would be the California Mantis, indigenous here on the left coast, or the Chinese Mantis, came over on a slow boat in the 1890's.
Article I looked up said they are common but damned if I can recall seeing one around here before.
LOL, at first I thought there was a large bit of browned stem on the plant. Curious, I went to pluck it off and it moved!

And like yer jumper that mantis knew it was under close scrutiny. I'll be keepin' watch to see if it comes back!

 

[squatty]