The Little Mantis by Chipka
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Description
It wasn’t until I’d been photo-bombed that I realized one of my latent goals. Since the beginning of my serious pursuit of photography, I’ve never really been able to capture the Mantis. Chicago isn’t really the place for them, however, despite the fact that the entire State of Illinois exists within their natural range. They aren’t city insects, for the most part. I’ve seen a few. Not many. More than one, but not as many as ten. On the day that I took this photo (yesterday) I didn’t expect to see one. And yet…
I’d aimed my camera elsewhere. I was hunting for and creating stock images for more layered creations. This small person (an adolescent, at the very most) quite literally emerged into the shot I was making. There’s a particular, surreal quality to that emergence, and I’ll be posting that photo…soon. I’ve decided to post this one first, simply because I like it, and I’m surprised at how well it turned out, despite slight breeze blowing against the nearly-cooperative model. If I did a bit of research, I suspect I’d learn precisely what kind of mantid this little person happens to be, but I rather like the mystery. As this is a juvenile (at best) I somehow doubt that the adult will look substantially the same. The abdomen will grow more rotund; the wings will become somewhat more sleek…somewhat less likely to cause the poor little thing to go kiting off in strange directions at the merest hint of a breeze. Yesterday’s breeze was not substantial, but for something that is undoubtedly too small to hunt adult flies, a slight breeze can cause quite a hassle, and—indeed—the bulk of my mantis photos show a breeze-disturbed blur. This is one of the best, and the first (of 3 or 4) to appear in my gallery.
I’d say more about this little creature, but as it stands, s/he’s in the process of inspiring other words: the body of a story, and so anything that I might say will undoubtedly come later, in the form of fiction.
As always: thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all having a great week.
Comments (11)
treasureprints
Fascinating...excellent macro.:)
MrsRatbag
Wow! We don't have them here, at least if we do I've never seen one. This one is lovely, the eyes look like they were laser-etched! Nicely done Chip!
Wolfenshire
He's a cool little dude - bit of a camera ham maybe.
NefariousDrO
That's a really neat shot, I like the way it almost looks like some kind of bizarre metallic statue. I don't know how you manage to capture these amazing insect macros!
auntietk
Looks like he's getting ready for a boxing match! Everything seems out of proportion. Very much like teenagers everywhere! :)
durleybeachbum
What a cutie!
jendellas
What a find, superb pic!!
flavia49
wonderful
NightGallery
That thing is awesome. Like a Lacewing ready for battle. Great shot.
Chipka
I thought it was a lacewing, at first, until it started doing that defensive burlesque dance number mantids do so well...only it was fast and on my macro setting, it came out as a mantis shaped blur, but for such a little thing, it was impressive. That kid's gonna go places! About 2 minutes after this shot, that kid went...well...sort of north-east.
Faemike55
She is very beautiful - it's very rare I think, to capture a Mantis with the wings out Great capture and I look forward to any story you might create with this image
kgb224
Superb capture my friend. God bless.