Carolina Mantis Photos And The Story Behind Them

Yesterday, I spotted and photographed my first Carolina Mantis here in Arkansas. If not for my keen eyesight, I would never have seen the mantis at all.

Carolina Mantis close up – Canon R7, f9, 1/640, ISO 1600, +0.3 EV, Canon 100-400mm at 400mm, natural light

I was photographing birds yesterday morning when I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and saw “something” land on a pine tree some distance from where I sat.

For a few moments, I wondered what it was, then decided to walk over with my camera to investigate the mysterious flying object—or, more appropriately, organism.

And I found this mantis. I did a little dance before I started photographing it.

The pine tree I saw the Carolina Mantis fly into – Canon R7, f8, 1/1000, ISO 1600, Canon 100-400mm at 220mm, natural light

Then I walked back to where I was sitting, zoomed out to 220mm, and photographed the mantis on the tree. I would have preferred to zoom out even further, but then the mantis would have been too hard to see. Even at 220mm, it is difficult to see in this inset.

Carolina Mantis resting on a pine tree – Canon R7, f13, 1/1250, ISO 1600, -0.7 EV, Canon 100-400mm at 400mm, natural light

Once I finished photographing that, I went back out to the tree to take more photos of the mantis. She or he blended right into the bark of the pine, but not well enough to escape my eyes.

Carolina Mantis in morning light – Canon R7, f13, 1/1000, ISO 1600, -0.3 EV, Canon 100-400mm at 400mm, natural light

There was only bright light for a little while yesterday, and it happened as I was taking images of this Carolina Mantis. I would have preferred softer, more even light, but I took the photos anyway.

I imagine these mantids aren’t all that easy to find, and having one catch my eye while I was photographing birds was simply amazing.

Life is good.

Mia

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