Reader Gabe McNett sent a hard “spot the mantid” photo. His notes and the photo follow (enlarge it to aid your sleuthing):
I thought I would share a few pictures for a possible “Spot the ….” entry to your blog. I saw this mantis in the field this morning, which I believe is a late-stage nymph of the introduced Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis). I would not have seen it if it hadn’t moved.
I rate this “pretty damn hard.” The reveal will be at noon Chicago time.
Try as I might. I had no luck spotting it.
Got it. Good one! Thank you for sending this in, Gabe.
You’re welcome! Thanks Mark. I know you’ve shared many of these yourself, so I bet you’ve got a pretty good eye for them at this point.
I am sure I miss a lot. If I just stand in one spot for 10 minutes, I wind up seeing more and more critters.
There he is!!
Can we get a hint?
Nope; if I did it would take away the fun!
Too damn hard for me.
I have been successful with only a few of the “very hard” ones.
But I got this one in less than a minute. A bit of luck and the fact that when I was just a boy, I used to take pride in bringing home quite a few of these for my mother to see.
Brianna and I got it!
Gah!
That took way too long.