#Carolina Mantid

[kremro]

Put Up Your Dukes (Carolia mantid: Stagmomantis carolina) by AARON ("Ronny") Rentz Via Flickr: This little guy was so much fun to shoot. We spent about 1 1/2 hours "playing" with him. I swear, you would have thought he was posing for us. At times he looked like he was actually smiling. He took on the role of boxer, orchestra director and just plain old model. He was relocated to a much better place than he was found. Our only disappointment was we couldn't keep him as a pet. We also worried a little about where we set him free- in the middle of a patch of four-o'clocks . Problem with that was hummingbirds frequent the flowers and we read that these little guy had been known to snare hummers.

[celestialmacros]

The darkest brown Carolina Mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) I've ever seen.

August 18, 2024

Southeastern Pennsylvania

[onenicebugperday]

@galacticnova3 submitted: Found this absolute chonker of a lady while looking for a mate for Green Bean Casserole! She either contains multitudes or just had a really good meal.

Wasn't too happy about being gently lifted off my shirt, though. Very offended that I wouldn't let her climb me.

And of course, Green Bean Casserole update! She finished her last molt successfully and is now a very unique looking adult! Mostly straightened out and having no troubles getting around or eating, though her shape still differs from the usual a bit, as do her colors.

She also hasn't lost her somewhat clumsy charm.

Thankfully, this sort of thing only seems to happen outside the vivarium; haven't seen or heard her fall when hanging from the lid or her favorite stick. I ended up moving her back to the "recovery" terrarium since it was already set up to be usable by her and I still need to properly update the mesh lidded one to be safe for mantises. Haven't had a good chance to shop for any kind of screen yet.

Anyways, here is Green Bean Casserole's "you better not be sharing unflattering pictures of me online" look.

That woman is very chunky! Most likely gravid. Usually a wild-caught meal isn't big enough to get her that fat just from eating, but it's possible. I'm so glad Green Bean Casserole successfully molted into an adult and is doing well! And only slightly misshapen lol. Please tell her she's still beautiful and perfect.

[noirandchocolate]

Just gave this plucky little fellow a ride to the safety of a bush. A curious guy, he climbed all on my hand and arm before settling on my fingers like this.

[antiqueanimals]

Elements of Zoölogy: A Text-book. Written by Sanborn Tenney. 1875.

Internet Archive

[opossumprints]

Molting

Tw! mentions of bugs, bullying, and potential mentions of imposter syndrome

The Carolina praying mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) is one of the two most common mantids found in the state of Virginia. The insect is typically brown in color, mimicking the color and general markings of a dead leaf. It is an interesting insect because it can change its appearance to match its environment every molt until it reaches adulthood (when they cease molting). 

Steve feels like that sometimes. Like he changes to fit in with people around him and now that he has shed them he’s stuck being the version of himself that he hates most. The ugly, alone, version that is tucked in the back of his empty science classroom crying over a bug. More technically speaking, crying over the book on bugs that he checked out of the school library. He shuts the book. He can’t afford to replace it, if it ends up tear-stained. 

He was supposed to be finishing up a report for class, he had only written the one paragraph. Came in during lunch and everything. But now instead of writing about the bug he was randomly assigned and their importance in their ecosystem, he's just feeling miserable. 

Maybe he's not being honest with himself. He was never going to work on the bug thing, he was just trying to hide. 

“Heeeeyyyy! Anyone in here?” 

Steve knows that voice, knows the face that will greet him if he lifts his head (which he absolutely cannot do, his face is streaked with tears and he’d like to keep some of his dignity thank you very much). 

Eddie Munson is a year or so older than Steve and looks every bit like the junkyard dogs Steve used to see prowling around outside before his dad remarried. Those dogs were mean-looking things, big and dangerous, armored with black leather and metal spikes, and right now Eddie was no different. Steve has heard him barking venomous speeches about the shittiness of high school and jocks and such, what would he say if he found one crying over nothing? 

Maybe now that Steve has dropped that last and final fake skin, now that he's given up on pretending to be anyone, Maybe now he’ll be left alone.

“Harrington? What the fuck are you doing here?” 

Or maybe not 

Steve looks up through his bangs, still trying to keep his face from view. Munson is by the doorway with a puzzled, kinda grossed-out look on his face. Like he can't decide if it's confusing or nauseating that Steve is anywhere near him. Steve gets that, would feel gross if he was in close proximity of anyone who had been acting the way Steve had been recently.

“I'm doing my assignment for Spencer’s class” Steve croaks “The bug one?” 

Now Munson just looks confused, possibly a bit shocked but what does that matter?

His pretty eyebrows are knit together and his mouth tugs down into a frown…or a sneer? Steve has never been that good with facial expressions.  

“No, you haven't” Munson speaks up ” You've been crying”.

“I could be doing both.” Steve mumbles. He's not sure why he's pushing back. Munson had obviously already seen the tears and they both could see the scattered, empty, pages that were strewn across the table. He had not been doing both.

Munson is shuffling into the classroom now; approaching as if he's trying not to startle a cat. Steve watches him carefully—knows to watch carefully—if Eddie makes one too fast move, Steve is out of there. 

Right now, Munson doesn't seem the type to try and jump Steve, especially because he is very vocal about hating bullies, but Steve will never rule it out after what happened with Jonathan.  Steve used to be smarter, before rich stepmom’s and asshole fake friends,  he used to be more wary of the signs of a beating. If Jon could surprise him, so could Munson.

Steve didn't look away from the approaching man, but he was still somewhat startled by how close he managed to get. Apparently, close enough to press warm and calloused fingertips under Steve’s chin. It feels nice. Feels even nicer when they slide further up his jaw to cradle his face. 

Eddie makes a soft cooing noise as Steve melts into his hold. He feels like he could purr, and wants to be held like this forever.

Eddie taps his face, gets his attention, and waits till Steve finally looks back too him.

“What’s the matter, sweet thing?” Eddie asks “Why are you crying?”.

“ I don’t like who I am anymore” Steve croaks. Eddie coos again, moves around the table to pull Steve against his chest. “ I wanna be who I used to be but I can't no more.” 

“Why not?” Eddie presses. Steve had pressed his face to Eddie’s Stomach, didn't want to look up, so his answer came out mumbled.

“Gotta be who everyone else wants.”

Eddie hums, rumbles all the way through his chest. Steve loves it.

“How ‘bout we do something about that Stevie?” There are fingers running through Steve’s hair now. The deft fingers that had pulled away when Steve was pulled in, thankfully returned. “ We could go to my van? I have blankets in the back, and probably some snacks too. We can talk?” he implores.

“Sounds nice…” it really does “I missed you Eds” 

There is a chuckle, deeper, more rumbly, than the one Steve remembers. It sounds more like a summer thunderstorm instead of birdsong. It reminds Steve of his last happy chunk of childhood. Brings back memories of summers with his best friends, of two childhood sweethearts and their pseudo brothers racing along the railroad tracks tucked away and quiet.   

“I missed you too Stevie”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You know, a while back when The Stranger Things play came out there was a poster for a dog groomer owned by the Harringtons and there seems to be absolutely no mention of this seemingly super influential family outside of Steve so I wanted to play around with it. In this universe Steve grows up poor, his dad owns the Junkyard that appears abandoned in season 2, and his mom makes some extra cash on the side grooming dogs.

Steve, Eddie, and the Byers boys grow up as close friends who play in the woods together (that's why Steve knows the railroad tracks lead to the Junkyard), But Steve's dad remarries a rich, young, woman and he is forced to leave his friends.

Right now it can kind of be read as omegaverse but it's very subtle and ambiguous. if people want me to continue the story further I might make it omegaverse because I'm a sucker for Eddie and Steve being scent-mates that get separated during childhood, but I know omegaverse is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea

[wingedarrows]

APPARENTLY I never posted valor's palisman here so hands you all Swift (I later gave her pupils because 1) palisman, and 2) mantises do in fact have pupils! Or pseudopupils at least)! Despite being named after a carolina mantis I used to have, her appearance is based off that of a european mantis. Including eyespots on the inside of her front legs!

Mantids of Valor is the name of Valor's online shop where he sells his metalworking stuff, and yes, the logo is of swift.

[worldrandom]

south carolina facts

name after king charles 1 and king charles 2 of england

palmetto state nickname

og of the 13th first states

beautiful beaches and fishing

peach state

137 battles in the revolutionary war

columbia city hall 2nd oldest government building in the capital

monkey island 3000 monkeys

sturgis largest motorcycle rally

angel oak 400-500 years old

lizard man popular urban legend

state capital columbia

largest city charleston

state size 32,030 sq miles

population 5,282,634

state hood may 23,1785

counties 46

highest point sassfras mountain

lowest point atlantic oceane

length 260 miles

width 200 miles

state motto while i breath, i hope ready in soul and resovrce

prize winner 3

famous people 5

state dog boykin spaniel

state reptile loggerhead sea turtle

sate spider carolina wolf spider

state animal white tail deer

state fossil columbian mammoth

state fish striped bass

state bird carolina wen

state gemstone amethyst

state flower yellow jessamine

state tree sabal palmetto

state butter fly tiger swallowtail butterfly

state hmphibian spotted salamander

state shell lattered olive

game bird wild turkey

state fruit peach

state insect carolina mantid

state marine mammal bottlenose dolphins

state grass sorghastrum nutang

[kremro]

Put Up Your Dukes (Carolia mantid: Stagmomantis carolina) by AARON ("Ronny") Rentz Via Flickr: This little guy was so much fun to shoot. We spent about 1 1/2 hours "playing" with him. I swear, you would have thought he was posing for us. At times he looked like he was actually smiling. He took on the role of boxer, orchestra director and just plain old model. He was relocated to a much better place than he was found. Our only disappointment was we couldn't keep him as a pet. We also worried a little about where we set him free- in the middle of a patch of four-o'clocks . Problem with that was hummingbirds frequent the flowers and we read that these little guy had been known to snare hummers.

[celestialmacros]

One of the prettiest I've ever seen, with those green eyes. She looks like a tapestry from above. Although we have 4 kinds of mantids in my area, this is the only native one and I'm always happy to find them.

Carolina Mantis (Stagmomantis carolina)

September 28, 2023

Southeastern Pennsylvania

[platycryptus]

Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina). Austin, Texas, 10/17/19

A close relative of the arizona mantis, this is probably the most common and widespread mantis in the Americas- it has a range stretching across the southern US, down through Mexico and all the way to Argentina. It’s also a highly variable species, with color forms ranging from mottled gray or brown like this one to patternless bright green and everything in between. This has caused it to be described as several species in the past.

I found this large female hanging from a castor bean plant near a wastewater treatment pond. The sewage from Austin fertilizes lush vegetation that gives rise to an absurd density of herbivorous insects, which in turn has given rise to a large population of carolina mantids- I counted 8 or 9 of their eggcases (oothecae) clustered within inches on a single tree trunk.

[bugsandnaturethings]

here’s my Carolina Mantids not sitting still for just a single picture

[oscartheamstaff]

I made a friend while weeding today! She did a little dance for me :)

[bugkeeping]

Carolina Mantis (Stagmomantis carolina)

[creaturespamatronium]

a little friend i found while pruning back yarrows

Stagmomantis carolina

[rustiieldritch]

Favorite non mammalian animal?

praying mantids or centipedes