Praying Mantis

Praying Mantid

I spotted three Praying Mantises in my garden this year. I’m always glad to see the voracious eaters. They seem to like the coleus.

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They are so good job of catching and eating other insects that some people think they would be more aptly called Preying Mantis. In fact, they are fast enough to catch mosquitoes and flies. Unfortunately, they don’t discriminate and also eat good bugs.
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I’m always confused by the difference between Mantis and Mantid. According to Gary Watkins and Ric Bessin, University of Kentucky Entomology,

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“Although many refer to a member of this group as a ‘praying mantis,' mantis refers to the genus Mantis. Only some praying mantids belong to the genus Mantis. Mantid refers to the entire group.”

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So all Mantises are Mantids but not all Mantids are Mantises. Right?

More information about Praying Mantis from the University of Kentucky.

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This week in the Garden

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It’s been a good week in the garden.

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The Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis paniculata ‘Sweet Autumn’) is in full bloom. Sparkly little white flowers cover the lush green growth. There is a trellis under that vine. I’ve had to tie it up several times this year. The growth tends to go off in all directions.

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I dug out some suckers from the Sweet Shrub (Calycanthus floridus). I need to do this in spring and fall to avoid growing a Sweet Shrub forest.

The bush could use a hair cut too.

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I have the same sucker problem with the white lilac. I dug out some of those roots too this week.

I got a good start on a new garden to screen the air conditioner unit. More about that in a later post.

While working in the garden I noticed a welcome visitor on the coreopsis.