Friday, February 22, 2019

Praying Mantis

While I was waiting under a shrub for Magnificent Riflebird to land on the branch of a tree, I saw a praying mantis. This pale green insect climbed a small plant and then stayed on one of its leaves. Perhaps, she was waiting for a prey. I carefully took my camera out of my pocket and aimed it at the beautiful insect. She was not running away when I positioned my camera close to her. I tried several shooting modes to optimize the results. Under the canopy of the forest, the light was not strong. I shot the praying mantis several times. Here is one of the photographs that I made.
Praying Mantis
There were also cruiser butterfly, swallow-tailed blue mountain butterfly, dragonfly, and beetles in the forest. They could easily be seen especially in the clearing area of our basecamp in Susnguakti forest of Manokwari. 
Below is my drawing of Ornithoptera priamus butterfly that was feeding on the nectar of Hibiscus flower. The artwork is now available in prints on various kinds of products such as iPhone case, throw pillow, t-shirt, drawstring bags, greeting card, spiral notebook, and etc.
Please, click the following picture if you are interested in buying them.
Birdwing butterfly eats nectar of Hibiscus flower
Birdwing Buterfly and Hibiscus iPhone case