So I had company this weekend...

Franscis, the Praying Mantis



The yucky dark fishing spider that met Mr Flyswatter

 

This fella visited us last fall. I snapped so many pics of him enjoying his breakfast that he finally stopped eating and looked at me as if to say, "Do you mind?" :lol:

 

Oh Dear Lord, that is one big spider!!:shock:

 

Some of his buddies are in my garage. :ack:

 

I could bring his carcass over, and you could use it as a little encouragement for them to move on!

 

I tried that! I have a garage full of those gross spiders! I left a few dead ones laying about to frighten the others but I still put on shoes to go out to the freezer. The pest control people were supposed to come today, hopefully they will fix it because I don't even want to park in there!!!!!!

 

We love seeing praying mantis', been seeing quite a few lately. My youngest killed one the other day...:cry:. I swear, that's gotta be some kind of bad luck, isn't it? He's only 3, he doesn't know any better, he thinks everything is a spider, so he kills it. (he hangs around me too long, I don't like critters, but I don't kill them unless they're in my house, and my oldest isn't around to take them outside)

 

Looks like what I have always known to be called a wolf spider, and we have tons of the things around the house.


Craig

 

Around the OUTSIDE of the house, not the inside!

I have the heeby-jeeby chills just looking at that picture!!

 

Cleo, I wonder why yours is tan and mine is bright green??

Got a pix today that I'll edit on my post tomorrow. Way Cool!!! I think it was a dude because he didn't want his picture taken! :lol:

 

I have a cool picture but don't know how to post it!

 

We had one the other day that was at least 4". Flared up like a peacock and then the little sucker BIT me! I was moving it so my cat wouldn't hurt it. It's living happily in a crepe myrtle. Tonight I saw a small one about 2 inches long on the deck rail. Cute little critters.

 

For the love of Christmas Trees!!!!

e-mail it to me and I'll post it...



sandy@alarmconceptsinc.com

 

Harley,

Here's a link and below is a picture and paragraph from the link on your green vs. brown mantis.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/praying-mantis.html

Typically green or brown and well camouflaged on the plants among which they live, mantis lie in ambush or patiently stalk their quarry. They use their front legs to snare their prey



Love these things,
Sherry

 

Hmm. Maybe. How big do the wolf spiders get? This guy was at LEAST 3 inches in diameter, the tiles in the picture are about 7 5/8 inches just to give you an idea. I had seen one out front a few weeks ago, then a week later saw one in the crawlspace. Then the other night, I chased this guy off the screened in porch so I could get a pic and exterminate him.

 

Definitely a wolf spider. Got a bunch of them right now because DH hasn't had time to spray. These are the ones that carry their babies on their back. So if you go to squish a really big one, be careful, because hundreds of babies will scatter. :ack:

 

Are these babies the little spiders one sees around a house that make small cobwebs?

Thanks,
Sherry

 

Nope, I don't think these spin webs like other spiders. They hide an pounce................hence the name. 8)

 

Thanks so much,
Sherry :lol:

 

OMG, I so hate spiders. I have to get my oldest DD or my DH to kill them whenever I see one. And our garage is crawling with them this year it seems like. I don't think I have ever seen this many. Whats up with that?