Praying Mantis Etiquette

We watched this visitor for a while as it stalked ants on our porch. Abby was polite and introduced herself... as Dora... but still, she was being polite, and I commend that. The Mantis turned its head to look at Abby/Dora as she came up to say hi. Pretty cute! It was still there this morning, as a matter of fact. I touched one antenna to make sure it was ok. It was ok. And the fact is, I love Praying Mantises, and consider them to be the Moby Dick/Unicorn/Pot of Gold, etc, of insect sightings.

Sleek Grey Caterpillar

Not sure what type of caterpillar this is, besides the stuff nightmares are made of. I found a few of them hiding out on some new shoots of a tree we'd cut down a month prior. This one was relocated, and I left the rest of the tree alone to harbor the other fugitives. 

Mourning Cloak

Saw this at Lake Huguenot when we were on a walk with the kids. It's hard to tell from this photo, but this caterpillar has spikes! It was walking very confidently across a dirt path where people run and ride bikes, so we moved it to a nearby apple tree. Some day it will look like this butterfly!

Spider Victory

We had some large rocks in this corner until B moved them to discover a giant spider taking refuge as it hashed it out with a giant moth... Looks like the moth lost. No idea what types of creatures these are.