Beetles uncovered

Last weekend I worked on preparing the garden for winter.  I was careful when cutting back plant stems, as I thought I might find the egg cases (ootheca) of the praying mantises I had seen before.  Although I didn't find any ootheca on the plants, I did find a new one on a sheltered part of the garden fence.

A mantis egg case (ootheca) attached to the fence.

My other interesting -- and much more colorful -- finds were all under the plant stems I was pruning.  As I gathered the dead leaves and stems from around one plant, I saw several bright red shapes nestled in the dirt.  They were ladybugs that had been hibernating under the shelter of the leaves.

Ladybugs that had been underneath some dead leaves.

I had been finding ladybugs hibernating in the mulch for the last few weeks, so these weren't a big surprise.  However, the next beetle that I uncovered was much larger, with an unusual purple and bronze sheen.

A European ground beetle (Carabus nemoralis) that had been underneath some plant stems.

From above, the coloration of the European ground beetle (Carabus nemoralis) makes it look attractive. However, once you look at it face on, I'm sure you will understand why I was glad to be wearing gloves when I caught this predatory beetle.

The mantis is greener on the other side of the fence

A few weeks ago, I found a praying mantis in my kitchen.  Since my kitchen isn't stocked with mantis food (i.e., live insects), I took the mantis back outside.  After that, I didn't see a mantis again until this weekend.  When I found the mantis pictured below, I thought it must be the same one that had made its way into the house.  It was considerably bigger than I remembered, but it was the same tan color that had worked so well as camouflage against the kitchen cabinets.

A tan colored European mantis (Mantis religiosa) female.

However, to my surprise, I soon encountered a second tan praying mantis in the backyard.  This one was sitting in the middle of the path, so I decided to move it to a safer spot.  Many years ago, I learned the hard way that a praying mantis can give a nasty pinch.  At least I learned that lesson well -- this time I put on my gardening gloves before picking up the mantis. 

A second European mantis (Mantis religiosa) female.  The spikes on the forelimbs can deliver a painful pinch to bare hands.

The second mantis wasn't my last surprise of the day.  When I started clearing dead plants from the front yard, I disturbed a third praying mantis from its hiding place.  This praying mantis was the same species as the two in the backyard, but bright green.

A green colored European mantis (Mantis religiosa) female.

This mantis quickly moved towards a bunch of dried plant stems and climbed up off the ground.  It was not very well camouflaged in its new spot; nevertheless, it soon began grooming itself, seemingly unaware of the large mammal hovering over it.

The green European mantis (Mantis religiosa) grooming itself.