Insect Macro Photography.

1. Sylvain Romiguier
   June 26th, 2006 at 8:55 am

   I’ts a praying mantis, in French “mante religieuse”.

2. Doug Hightower
   June 26th, 2006 at 9:05 am

   In Alabama it’s called “What the F*** is that?”

3. mac justice
   June 26th, 2006 at 9:56 am

   Looks like he made a praying mantis + butterfly mashup. I don’t think there’s anything like that that actually exists in nature.

4. tud wurtherly
   June 26th, 2006 at 11:10 am

   I don’t know what it is. Send it to me and I’ll have Dr. Foot take a look at it for you.

5. megmeg
   June 26th, 2006 at 12:15 pm

   it’s a mantis, “Stagomantis carolina” I believe, or it could be a young mantis after a molt. Young mantids go through ten molts before adulthood, and for a time afterwards they are milky white in color. Though the most widely seen color of mantis is green, they can range in color from green to tan to pink.

6. Duval
   June 26th, 2006 at 12:56 pm

   No, it’s probably real, likely some sort of flower mantis. There’s a nice pic of an Indian Flower Mantis on Wikipedia for comparison. This one is not identical but I’d guess it’s from a similar tropical species.

7. Jacob
   June 26th, 2006 at 4:52 pm

   I love the pattern on the wings… but holy crap, if I saw that thing I’d run for the hills.

8. Grahame
   June 26th, 2006 at 5:08 pm

   Hi folks,yes it is a praying mantis,Pseudocreobotra Wahlbergii,the spiny flower mantis.
   Its a native of south east Africa.
   Quite popular amongst “bug” hobyists.
   Have a look here for another stunner of a photo
   http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4011123.
   A relation to the Indian flower mantis,Creoboter Meleagris.

9. Loopy Loo
   June 26th, 2006 at 5:26 pm

   Both cool and icky at the same time.

10. tud wurtherly
    June 27th, 2006 at 6:58 am

    We know this: Bullets don’t affect it- and it lives only to hate.

11. Marr
    June 27th, 2006 at 7:55 pm

    Looks suspiciously like the hive queen from the Ender’s Game series to me.

12. Leslie
    June 28th, 2006 at 11:29 am

    Beautiful and colorful. But I must say if one ever landed on me, I’d probably cause myself some serious injuries…

13. Sub
    July 5th, 2006 at 1:41 pm

    You can pick those things up without any worries, no need to run. They don’t pinch very hard and usually give up trying to mess with you and just crawl around your hand trying to get away.

14. heather jean smith
    February 9th, 2007 at 12:02 pm

    It is an African flower mantis, also known as a number 9 mantis. You can purchase them at insect shows for about $30 bucks. They make great pets. they are not normally showing their wings in defense like that one.

15. me!!
    March 31st, 2007 at 1:29 pm

    Awwww it’s a cute little gonna-poison-me-thing i want one :D.ITs a mantis and its after it’s molt,

16. Iris
    January 29th, 2008 at 11:04 am

    That isn`t a real animal.. look, you can see the wings don`t suit. And that`s a very strange colour, too.

17. Barry Kok
    February 5th, 2008 at 4:59 pm

    Wow, the ignorance to anything foreign… I work most of my time around African jungles - this is a real praying mantis - and if I had my external HDD with me then I would upload a simmilar image I took in Guinea Conakry in 2004 - of the same species of mantis. The one I came across displayed a much deeper emerald green body, but a mantis can alter its colour in the same way as a chameleon to better disguise itself when hunting their prey. Excellent photo and well done!

18. Bored
    February 19th, 2008 at 9:17 pm

    jeez guys. it’s real, you should look up the orchid mantids. they’re beautiful in color.

19. spirit wolf
    April 8th, 2008 at 1:07 pm

    its a cool bug

20. ProteoNuker
    November 23rd, 2008 at 5:48 am

    Those wings aren’t even close to a butterfly’s. The shape and the nervature are completely different. Look at the front edge of the forewings. Butterflies don’t have that kind of frame. Look at the aft wings - they’re fan-shaped, which means they fold ove the abdomen. Butterfly wings don’t fold.

    It’s not unusual for a mantis to have wings. All insects have wings, but most just don’t use them. Even swimming and burrowing insects have wings. Even ants have them.

    This photo is not a fake.

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