A short trip to get improved shots of the Mantidfly which I shot last month. Before the main subjects… found the usual little ones.

#1 Net-wing beetle (Lycidae) that kept rotating on the spot as I positioned the camera.

#2 A bug-eyed katydid. Described by Mr Tan Ming Kai as Asiophlugis temasek. Thanks to James for the reference.

#3 Ichneumon Wasp. You wouldn’t want it to pierce that long thingy through you! (to lay eggs?)

#4 Cute little cricket, did the same peekaboo with me around that branch

#5 Ant-snatching assassin bug. These guys are the nymphs, and when they grow up, they graduate to piercing larger bugs!

#6 Longhorn Beetle (Cerambycidae), should be a young one with very fresh colours

#7 Tiger Beetle closeup (Cicindela aurulenta)

#8 Closeup of a two-tailed spider. Too lazy to remove the Raynox, so ended up with just closeup shots!

#9 A tiny praying mantis. Would love to take a back-lit shot of this fella, but it refused to stand still.

#10 Peering at me

And… finally found the Mantidflies!!

#11 Not a perfect angle but sharper than previous attempts

#12 No difference in this one, just making many shots. lol

#13 Top view. Or rather, view from the bottom since this fella usually hides under a leaf.

#14 This one allowed me to get close. Sharpest shot so far!

#15 Found another one and pushed my luck to get this close!

#16 Last mantidfly for the day. 🙂

The complete album can be viewed here.

James blogged about this trip here

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