Preying Mantis

Our Apple tree is having a stellar year, producing big fruit with relatively few insects attacking it.  Coming across this praying mantis I wondered if it was partly responsible!  On doing some research it seems like this may be an example of the native NZ praying mantis as it seems to fit the general description quite well.  Praying mantis are often used intentionally in gardening to keep insects at bay, so we are lucky this one decided to adopt us!  

  

Nt: It’s interesting how the “praying mantis” also so easily fits the name “preying mantis” as well… One of the little quirks of the English language!  And of course praying mantis is just the common name, but what’s wrong with being common after all?

A plague of cicadas

Throughout our walk on the Queen Charlotte Track there has been an almost constant hum, the sound of thousands of cicadas all around. I’m not sure if it has been a particularly good year for them, or if they are always so plentiful, but there are definitely a lot of them.

In places with sunshine they frequently fly across the track around you. Often bumping into your face, hair, ear, or arms as they try to fly past. A cicada will also quite often land on your bag or your shirt and tag along for a while. They don’t really do any harm, but that doesn’t stop me from letting out an occasional shriek and/or flailing wildly, when one bumps into me.