Better Late …

Posted in Consciousness, Insects, Life, Love, Macro Photography, Mantis, Meditation, Nature, Photography, Relaxation, Spirituality, Sustainability, Truth? by Mark on 26/10/2018

… than never. So the saying goes.

Mantis, preying Mantis. Praying for relief perhaps. From the ants that were harassing it.

*Click on the pictures for a proper look … and click again

It was just hanging on to the tree trunk, jumping this way and that in response to the irritation of ants.

Ants that would be the death of it, if it stayed still for long enough. And so it was, jittery … to say the least.

Always looking for the informative angle, to display the brilliance, of design and form. We don’t ‘just happen’.

And after a while evading the ubiquitous ant she dropped from the tree, to more dangerous ground.

Why didn’t she fly away? I couldn’t see … I picker her up, for her safety and for a few shots of this little wonder.

Co-operative enough … she still wasn’t happy about her situation, however she perceived it. A lingering impression of ‘ant’ perhaps.

But no PTSD here, that I could discern, just the will to go on, as a Mantis, preying …

Preying still … I moved her to different surfaces for a few shots. I couldn’t just leave her to the ants.

And, little beauty, she posed a while … But why didn’t she fly away, I couldn’t tell. It didn’t make sense.

Often a creature will let me take a few shots and be away on the wing, but not lady Mantis, not this day.

A mystery … a beauty, to the eye that sees. Just wouldn’t want to be her next meal, as if that could be.

And one last from the side, maybe she’ll raise herself up for all to see her wonder … but not to be, this time.

When I got home and had a look I could see … her wings are held together with some kind of webbing that has some dark spots in it. Been parasitised perhaps …

That accounted for her inability to fly, her greatest danger. And so I left her, in what I thought a safe place. But on return the ants had found her, and were many. I rescued her again and took her home to die in peace and quiet … in such a dangerous world.

Between one thing and another this post got put off.

But is there such a thing as ‘late’?

Only if it’s personalised.

And it’s not personal.

It’s just the way it is.

24 comments

24 Responses

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tuggey said, on 01/11/2018 at 12:23 am

WHERE DID YOU FINd HER

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- Mark said, on 01/11/2018 at 11:30 am
  
  On the trunk of a paperbark tree, like in the first picture.
  
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Mike Scir said, on 30/10/2018 at 11:05 am

Just beautiful. IMO the 12th (head) shot is a definite award winner.

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- Mark said, on 30/10/2018 at 11:41 am
  
  It’s the cleanest portrait shot here all right.
  
  Thanks Mike.
  
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Cate said, on 28/10/2018 at 2:02 am

Such intricate and fantastic beauty in a creature so small. Wonderfully captured by your lens and appreciation, as always.

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- Mark said, on 28/10/2018 at 10:24 am
  
  It is an amazing nature all right. Thanks Cate.
  
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treesshrubs said, on 27/10/2018 at 12:18 pm

Such an amazing insect!! No wonder they will inherit the earth!
Images were awesome! 😙
Appreciations Trees

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- Mark said, on 27/10/2018 at 6:30 pm
  
  They will survive us …
  
  Thanks Trees.
  
  Reply
pijush sarkar said, on 26/10/2018 at 11:02 pm

Hi ,Very good picture.
Thank you very much for shearing beauiful fun…little beauty. she’s body colour and structure very cute..like as his mimicry…

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- Mark said, on 27/10/2018 at 12:14 am
  
  Thanks Pijush. It was found first on a paperbark tree, very similar colouring.
  
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FlowerAlley said, on 26/10/2018 at 10:51 pm

I appreciate your rescuing this damsel in distress and sharing these amazing photos. Thanks

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- Mark said, on 27/10/2018 at 12:12 am
  
  Thanks FA…
  
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susurrus said, on 26/10/2018 at 6:19 pm

A bittersweet story, beautifully told in words and pictures. The shots from above really show off her leafy character.

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- Mark said, on 26/10/2018 at 6:37 pm
  
  Thanks Susan. It’s a funny old life, but in the end nature still is, while the intelligence behind is still.
  
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Harry van Gastel said, on 26/10/2018 at 5:12 pm

Marvelous, period.

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- Mark said, on 26/10/2018 at 6:34 pm
  
  Thanks Harry.
  
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niasunset said, on 26/10/2018 at 4:59 pm

Great. As if it will jump to my desk :) Thank you, Love, nia

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- Mark said, on 26/10/2018 at 6:34 pm
  
  Thanks Nia.
  
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puzzleblume said, on 26/10/2018 at 4:50 pm

A very special beauty she is – and always a lilttle wonder the way your love for the small armour-cladded creatures is shining through your photography.

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- Mark said, on 26/10/2018 at 6:33 pm
  
  She is … if we love them a little now they might not disappear altogether, and the earth will keep turning. Thanks P…
  
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Lissa Clayton said, on 26/10/2018 at 3:34 pm

Amazing shots. I’ve never seen a variety of PM like that before let alone up that close. She looked perfect but must have been spent to not evade the ants.

You could say it was fate to be eaten alive at the end, like her own prey, but I’m glad you took her home to die in peace.

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- Mark said, on 26/10/2018 at 6:30 pm
  
  She would normally fly away but couldn’t, and she doesn’t have the foot gear for climbing. Those ants are relentless and their numbers overwhelming for any single creature. That’s nature …
  
  Thanks Lissa.
  
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Deb said, on 26/10/2018 at 11:14 am

Magnificent!

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- Mark said, on 26/10/2018 at 2:21 pm
  
  She is …
  
  Reply