Mantis and Butterfly

The other day, I walked by my window and noticed a large praying mantis caught in a spider’s web. The web was full of various species and sizes of spiders, yet the smallest of them was the one attempting to feed on the mantis. Before I could grab my camera, my boyfriend decided to rescue the mantis, and place it in a bush outside of our home.

When I was able to get my camera, I took various shots of the mantis, and was quite intrigued to watch it’s head pivot as I moved around it. The mantis appeared to be contemplating me and my camera.

During the shoot, a butterfly happened to land by the bush, and I had just enough space left to get one photo. Pretty little thing! I love bugs 🙂

Caring for a Pet Praying Mantis (pets.answers.com)
The Praying Mantis (ashleighhoda.wordpress.com)
Praying Mantis Mimics Flower to Trick Prey (newswatch.nationalgeographic.com)
Mantis Mating: Praying or Preying? (insects.answers.com)

Updates and new bugs

After a trip on Thursday to GBU Enterprises, I came home with some new bugs, a creature I have never kept on the Desktop before, and a critter that was happily released right after I snapped it’s photo.

A turtle, obviously. Something I have NEVER kept before.

3 Madagascar hissing beetles! Yep, I am bringing them back to the zoo!!

A Black Widow and her brood. After photos, they were kindly released away from my home and back into the wild!

She had a few hundred in there, I think. Now, they will be ‘enjoyed’ by the folks of Stockton, CA.

A Pink Toed spiderling 1″ whom I am still trying to name. Sid IV, if you will.

A cool shot of the spiderlings backside, and as one of the forum members pointed out, the spiderling resembles a Green Bottle Blue, though I doubt GBU made that big of a mistake. I am quite certain this is an avic.

I had a great time interviewing one of the co-owners of GBU. and may even be volunteering there if I can get out of some engagements that will take up most of my time over the next month or so. In the meantime I will be enjoying these new additions, and hopefully will acquire more to begin doing private bug-shows and maybe getting back into selling again. Who knows!

IT’S A BOY!!!

Mitzy, my fuzzy Lasiodora parahybana (also acquired from GBU back in February) has turned out to be a boy. I’m toying with renaming him, but may keep it the same just to throw people off. Even though he will not (most likely) have the opportunity to reproduce, I will still enjoy watching him grow, and will be keeping him as a personal pet, along with Serj, my A. chalcodes female. Serj, who can live for up to 25ish years, will hopefully become a companion for my son when he goes to college. He’s 1 now, so just 17 years to go!

Spider Bugs (a10com.wordpress.com)

So you are a teen wanting a tarantula, but mom says “OH HELL NO!!”

Okay, maybe you are a spouse wanting a tarantula….or a roommate, and the counterpart of your household is vehemently opposed to your demands. Here are a few tips to help you on your way that may or may not help you, but will at least get you hooked up with fellow spider enthusiasts (who according to your housemate are probably tattooed freaks and certified crazies.) I assure you, and them, however, that there is nothing certifiable about your fascination with the hairy, 8-legged creatures of the night. They are rather striking, and some are even handleable! So, check out my latest article ‘How to convince your parents to let you have a tarantula’ and let these tips send you on your way to being a star keeper in no time!

Caution: there may be normal folks mentioned in this article!

C. fasciatum after a molt named Zero

A madagascar hissing roach

A nice little book on keeping tarantulas

Me and a G. rosea who later turned out to be male (pictured as mature and pink towards the top of this blog.

Me and another G. rosea whom I sent to be the first tarantula of a 13 year old girl. An amazing event that has fueled my career as an invertebrate dealer.

Hairyback Tarantula Feed 17 July 2013 – Durban South Africa (melancholymons.wordpress.com)
Theodora the Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (creaturekeen.wordpress.com)
You Might Want to Know… (meagangarner.wordpress.com)
Advice about getting a Tarantula as a pet? (petsandcares.com)
Central Valley Herpetological Society (sidnata.wordpress.com)
Giant Tarantula Vs. Hawk Wasp (uniquedaily.com)
Goal #1 – Hold a tarantula – Completed July 31, 2013 (martuo2013.wordpress.com)
I remember him well (terriblywrite.wordpress.com)
RC Tarantula (neatorama.com)
Tarantula Versus Scorpion. Bets On Who Wins? (kotaku.com)

Central Valley Herpetological Society

I have recently done an interview with the founder and president of the CVHS here in California. Although the group does not necessarily pertain to tarantulas, I thought it would be neat to showcase the hobby that goes hand in hand with tarantula keeping- reptiles. Even better is that this guy not only founded the CVHS, but also has started a BUG CLUB here in California!!! I think I am in love (with critters!)

The article on CVHS can be viewed HERE

My lovely little Sarva on a book about spiders.

Herpetological Publications (anoleannals.org)
The Most Low-maintenance Small Exotic Pets (pets.answers.com)
Theodora the Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (creaturekeen.wordpress.com)
Goal #1 – Hold a tarantula – Completed July 31, 2013 (martuo2013.wordpress.com)
SC teenager educating children about snakes (miamiherald.com)
Jack Loves Herpetology Camp (jackblog.typepad.com)
Images of Long-tailed Brush Lizards (pets.answers.com)

A butterfly doing ungodly things on a car tire

When I look at butterflies, I am taken away by their endless beauty and graceful form. However, when I saw this beauty, I got more than I bargained for as I witnessed what looks like this beautiful creature taking its morning evacuation.

Here is is, pretty and looking harmless.

And here it is, evacuating as if no one is watching. Although it is a wee bit blurry, you can plainly see that the first shot shows it’s back-end dry as a bone. In this photo, nature is calling all over my mother’s car tire.

Oh nature. Modesty is only a human dilemma.

Prepare to ‘Bug Out’ at California Bug Club’s next meeting

Prepare to ‘Bug Out’ at California Bug Club’s next meeting.

Visit the California Bug Club for more information.

To my followers

Dear fine people of WordPress and beyond,

Thank you for the time you have taken to stop by, like, and comment on my blog. I appreciate it very much. If you are new, please bare with the shameless promotion of my Examiner articles, as I am a new contributor to the site, and have not yet gotten my legs.

Also, in case you have noticed, a lot of my older posts here are missing their photos and have expired links. This is due to the hosting website, which is no longer available. I apologize for this, and have been working (slowly) to get the photos back up. The computer that had the originals is also down, so I have to comb through my multiple social media sites to see if back-ups were saved. Please bare with me during this painstaking process, and thank you, in advance, for your patience. If you are looking for something in particular, or have any questions, please feel free to contact me using the form in the sidebar.

To piggyback on the photos issue, I also must warn that I have incredibly bad luck with cameras. If I have not posted in a while, it is probably to do a broken piece of equipment.

I am happy to have you aboard, and would love to hear from you!

Thanks again, and I look forward to helping you along your journey into the world of invertebrate hunting and keeping. See you around!

Sidnata