Friends in My Garden- 56

Praying Mantis

This young Praying Mantis moulted (molted) in my garden!

He didn’t like my intrusion into his privacy, while changing his coat. Keeping his gaze fixed on me, he tried to move away as fast as he could. I followed him and got a few of his pictures 🙂

As you know, the Praying mantis (Mantis religiosa) is thus named because of the way it holds its front two legs, looking like they are in a praying position.
They are predators; have triangular heads propped up on a long “neck”. They use their front legs to snare their prey. Moths, crickets, grasshoppers, flies, and other insects are usually the unfortunate victims that fall prey to them.

The female of the species is notorious, which sometimes eats her mate just after mating.

Praying Mantis are very well camouflaged and often mistaken for leaves or tree branches.

 

 

 

Landscape- 2

Queen of the Nilgiris

The Blue Mountains (Nilgiris) have always been shrouded in mysticism, and Ooty, the Queen of Hill stations, is no exception to that.

Ooty is a hill station in the State of Tamil Nadu, India, that is nestled amidst the Nilgiri hills and serves as a very popular tourist destination for anyone looking for a picturesque place to relax and unwind.

The pictures show beautiful views of Ooty.