The spider, the grasshopper and the mantis

 

So, the story behind these images goes like this. First, I noticed the Black and yellow Argiope spider and the cool web. As I approached the web to grab a shot of the spider I flushed a grasshopper who inadvertently ended up in the spider’s web.

It was fascinating to watch the spider in a matter of seconds completely encase the grasshopper.

It was only then that I noticed the Mantis eyeing up the proceedings. The Mantis spent a fair bit of time considering it’s options before deciding to leave. Of course by then I had about a dozen ticks on me.

The black-and-yellow Argiope spider is quite attractive and one of our more conspicuous species of orb weaving spiders. Orb web means it spins a web like a circle. Other commonly used names for this spider are golden orb-weaver, yellow garden orb-weaver and the writing spider. Master Gardeners

Mantises are an order of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families.

Interestingly, mantids are a carnivore, and dine primarily on insects like flies, crickets, moths, grasshoppers, and mosquitoes. They can even feast on prey over three times their size, including small animals such as frogs, lizards, and hummingbirds. Insect Almanac