Wednesday, October 15, 2008

ABC Wednesday: Autumn "M's"

This week we have reached the letter M, which is perfect for this time of year because M is for . . .

Mums, which add bright spots of color to fall gardens.
M is also for . . .


Maple trees, which are slowly putting on their autumn coats.

And M is also for my favorite insect . . .

. . . The praying Mantis!

Regular readers of my blog will know that I have become fascinated with these creatures that seem to have found my garden a good place to establish a colony this summer. For those of you who visit only for my occasional entries on ABC Wednesdays, this is not the same mantis I pictured last time for "I for Insects." If you would like to know more about the praying mantis you can check out an earlier post with many interesting facts about them. Besides the large number I've seen this year, another reason I've been able to get so many photos of them is because they move very, very slowly. The one pictured above was ready to catch some prey, so I clicked onto video to get it in "action," as you'll see below.



For more ABC posts on a variety of subjects, visit Mrs. Nesbitt's place or the ABC Anthology.

(To my usual garden blogging readers, I hope to have my GBBD post up in a few hours.)

15 comments:

  1. You can produce your favourite insect EVERY Wednesday! You could call them Aliens, Beasties, Creatures,Darlings, Edibles..... no maybe not Edibles!

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  2. I love mantids, too.
    Some people keep them as pets, you know. I had one for about a week this summer. It was all I could do to keep up with her voracious appetite--I had to go bug hunting every morning before work! I'd leave her an assortment, and by the time I returned home, all had been devoured!!!
    We're not alone in our admiration of them!

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  3. Rose, I love the butterfly on the mums- beautiful!, and the video is interesting, too. I always forget that my camera can take videos as well. I'll have to give it a try. That mantis can move pretty fast when he wants to!

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  4. Thanks for posting the video on the mantis. They are so interesting to look at. When I was a kid, I was deathly afraid of them. I avoided them at all cost.

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  5. I love the mantis picture - and the video too!! I'm off to check out the previous post now.

    Nice "M"!

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  6. I think they're facinating creatures but I'm glad we don't have them here. Now I've watched them move, it made me feel all creepy!!! Small Sprog had stick insects once and I although they were facinating, I couldn't bear to be near them if they were able to run free! You never knew where they might end up!!
    Like all your other M's too :)

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  7. It's great seeing the mantis in action! Loved your mums shot as well.

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  8. You have a beautiful garden and you made me love your praying mantis!

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  9. I like this meme! It is a lot of fun. You have very good ms...nothing beats a mantid!

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  10. I love all the shades of autumn that you see in mums.
    One of my favourite flowers.

    Bear((( )))

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  11. I came here for a mantid fix and you delivered, Rose ;-]
    Cool video!

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  12. Lots of great M words today. I love the colours that maple trees turn - ours our gorgeous right now!

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  13. I have not seen any mantis's around here for quite a while...this is a great shot...my ABC is here
    !

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  14. Rinkly Rimes, Thanks for that suggestion! And I so enjoyed reading all your clever rhymes.

    Nina, I had no idea people actually kept them as pets! Another blogger told me she was bitten by one once.

    Joyce, I discovered I could take videos by accident--long story, but let's just say I wasn't intending to take graduation videos:)

    Susie, I used to hate insects, but gardening and blogging has changed all that. Anything that eats the nasty pests is welcome in my garden.

    Jay, Thanks, and thanks for visiting!

    Suburbia, I first thought these looked prehistoric, but the more I watch them they remind me of robots, kind of a Wall-e:)

    Cindy, It wasn't very fast action, was it:)

    Reader Wil, Thank you, and I'm glad you liked the mantis.

    Gail, It's a fun meme; I participate only when I can think of a good subject for the week's letter.

    Bear Naked, I love all the colors of mums, too; I had trouble deciding which ones to buy!

    Kim, Thanks for stopping by! I'm not artistic like you, so I have to stick to gardening:)

    Annie, Thanks; you could have done "M is for...Moonflower!"

    Leslie, I think it was someone who commented on your blog saying that they had seen several maple trees for "m" today. I don't think anyone isn't awed by the dazzling color of a maple in autumn.

    Neva, I have seen (and photographed!) so many mantises this year. I'll be over for a visit...

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