So far all the photos I’ve added to my site have been ones I’ve taken at various times over the last 7 years, but today I have something different. I spotted this large Praying Mantis sitting on the flower stalk of my banana tree on Saturday afternoon. I took some photos straight away but the light wasn’t too good and I didn’t get anything I could use. It was still there on Sunday morning, in bright sunshine, so I grabbed my camera again and this was the result. I have to admit to a strong liking for these insects (despite their close relationship to the cockroach family!), and was pleasantly surprised to find them reasonably abundant where I am living in Spain. However, this is by far the biggest example I’ve seen outside of a zoo, it’s approximately 10cm from head to tail (excluding antennae). I’ve just checked again and it’s still there, 48 hours after I first saw it, if it sticks around much longer I’ll have to give it a name and everything!

One thing that strikes me is that my lens (Nikon 18 – 200 “superzoom”) isn’t strictly a macro lens, but I’ve been able to get really close at the maximum focal length and get a clear photo with loads of detail. I’d appreciate comments from people into macro photography as to how much difference a “proper” macro lens would make to shots like this.

Taken with a Nikon D1X and a Nikon 18 – 200mm VR lens at 200mm. Shutter speed 1/250th sec, Aperture f/8

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