cloud jaguar
Well-known member
In my backyard garden there is a pink flowered Zinnia bush. The foliage is vibrant green. Among the stems and leaves i found a mantid lounging under a flower. On the same bush, atop a flower, there was a large green lynx spider. For several days i spied on the mantid from afar. I saw how in the morning it came up on the long straigh stalks and walked up to the blooms. When not resting or eating below a bloom, she would often perch within a bloom and sit there, as if praying. It reminded me of those paintings of buddha inside a lotus blossom or the hindu gods. When the garden sprinkler went on she would simply walk to the other side of the stem and bask in dryness as the droplets streamed past her on both sides. In the evening, she would walk down and rest among the lower branches.
Well, also sharing the Zinnia was a large green lynx spider. Both the mantid and the spider seemed to be aware of each other - as one moved, the other would seem to notice and react, despite their distance they seemed note where they each went. For some days I saw both of them eat all manner of insects. From what I saw, the green lynx was a master of capturing bees and wasps. After not touching each other for some time I finally removed the mantid, now named Zinnia, into captivity where she laid an ooth. The spider grew and grew in size. Soon she was so massive and vibrant in color. Despite her large size she remained nimble and fast. One day I saw a smaller male appear on her flower. He seemed wary of her and always seemed to stay well clear of her on the other side of the flower. He had incredibly long, slender legs and a small body. His color was much less vibrant than hers. I did not see them mate, but next i noticed the male was gone.
Some days later I noticed that the spider had a bright white ooth that she carried with her. The ooth looks spiky with multiple pointed projecteions. Over the course of a couple of days the ooth hardened. Soon the spider began to loose her verdant hue. Now just a shell of her former self, she stays with the egg always. Slowly she is becoming weaker and weaker. She seems slow and ponderous. I fed her a waxworm the other day. As the waxworm twisted around atop the flower, she sensed its movement from below the flower. Little web strings criss-crossed the flower so that the worms movement was detected by her despite the worm not being visible from below. She moved in swift - stop - swift - stop cadence and pounced atop the worm. She pushed its head and mouth away with her long front legs and seemed to bite the worm repeatedly. Then she just hung under her flower and the worm hung lifeless below her as she proceeded to drain it of its juices. When the worm was an empty skin she discarded it and went back to guarding her ooth. A couple of days later i tried to feed her another wax worm and she just pushed it off of her flower - rejecting the offering. I see her every day, with the approach of fall, she will fall away like the leaves and leave the ooth to sprout with the flowers of spring.
Well, also sharing the Zinnia was a large green lynx spider. Both the mantid and the spider seemed to be aware of each other - as one moved, the other would seem to notice and react, despite their distance they seemed note where they each went. For some days I saw both of them eat all manner of insects. From what I saw, the green lynx was a master of capturing bees and wasps. After not touching each other for some time I finally removed the mantid, now named Zinnia, into captivity where she laid an ooth. The spider grew and grew in size. Soon she was so massive and vibrant in color. Despite her large size she remained nimble and fast. One day I saw a smaller male appear on her flower. He seemed wary of her and always seemed to stay well clear of her on the other side of the flower. He had incredibly long, slender legs and a small body. His color was much less vibrant than hers. I did not see them mate, but next i noticed the male was gone.
Some days later I noticed that the spider had a bright white ooth that she carried with her. The ooth looks spiky with multiple pointed projecteions. Over the course of a couple of days the ooth hardened. Soon the spider began to loose her verdant hue. Now just a shell of her former self, she stays with the egg always. Slowly she is becoming weaker and weaker. She seems slow and ponderous. I fed her a waxworm the other day. As the waxworm twisted around atop the flower, she sensed its movement from below the flower. Little web strings criss-crossed the flower so that the worms movement was detected by her despite the worm not being visible from below. She moved in swift - stop - swift - stop cadence and pounced atop the worm. She pushed its head and mouth away with her long front legs and seemed to bite the worm repeatedly. Then she just hung under her flower and the worm hung lifeless below her as she proceeded to drain it of its juices. When the worm was an empty skin she discarded it and went back to guarding her ooth. A couple of days later i tried to feed her another wax worm and she just pushed it off of her flower - rejecting the offering. I see her every day, with the approach of fall, she will fall away like the leaves and leave the ooth to sprout with the flowers of spring.
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