Photo Adventures with Curiosity and Learning

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July 17, 2015: Lizards and Moulting Praying Mantis with Larry

Larry and I went out to Queensway Sec School early this morning. We found a very cooperative lizard and he immediately got his "shot-for-the-day". I kept looking then I found another sleeping lizard - here

jul 17 0084 lizard eye

And nearby Liprocea fusiformis after having breakfast

jul 17 0088 liprocea fusiformis

An unusal moth - white and blue

jul 17 0096 white moth

An unusal moth - white and blue

jul 17 0097 white moth

From the side

jul 17 0098 white moth side

Another view

jul 17 0099 white moth side

Here is the praying mantis - quite small - maybe 20mm in length. He / she looked strange but my old eyes could not even make out it was a praying mantis - Larry - with his young eyes saw it was a praying mantis - so I took several images and only after I was home and processing did I realize he/she was moulting. Below is the sequence - you can see a bit of leg extraction and two long white filaments from head to the old exoskeleton - don't know what that is.

1

jul 17 0102 mantis moult 1

2

jul 17 0103 mantis moult 2

3

jul 17 0104 mantis mould 3

4

jul 17 0105 mantis moult 4

5

jul 17 0106 mantis moult 5

6

jul 17 0107 mantis moult 6

7

jul 17 0108 mantis moult 7

8

jul 17 0109 mantis moult 8

12

jul 17 0113 mantis moult 12

14

jul 17 0115 mantis moult 14

17

jul 17 0118 mantis moult 17

The completed mantis

jul 17 0121 mantis complete

Rotated 90 degrees

jul 17 0123 mantis complete

Araneus mitificus

jul 17 0134 unknown

Araneus mitificus

jul 17 0136 unknown

Araneus mitificus

jul 17 0143 unknown sparse web

Argiope - writing spider or St. Andrews Cross spider

jul 17 0145 argiope

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C. Frank Starmer

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