Insect excitement at Fields Pond Center

HOLDEN – We found a praying mantis at the Fields Pond Audubon Center last week. It was about four inches tall, bright green, and its stance and front legs reminded us of a miniature Tyrannosaurus Rex. Well, maybe not quite as stout.

A group of adults – our volunteer naturalists – got down on their knees to observe it close up. It was standing on its hind legs on a mowed path through a field. The insect stood still, the center of attention.

After watching it for a while, the naturalists went back to their work. But everyone who saw it went back to see it again.

The insect was charismatic. It stayed in the same area for several days, and one day we saw it eating another insect. The mantis perched on some tall grass stems with its head downward, holding the victim in its forelegs. While kneeling on the grass, one could hear the “chomp, chomp, chomp” of it eating.

A few days later, a praying mantis walked across the entry to the center building. Again all the naturalists were fascinated. One went to point his finger at the mantis, which instantly spread its arms out and displayed “eye spots” in its armpits. It even hissed – quite a show.

Another insect also caused some excitement. I was walking on a trail in the forest, with children behind me, when my eye caught some movement up ahead – a red, white and black butterfly. I watched it flutter around and then seem to disappear on a tree trunk. I looked and looked, and finally found a big gray moth on the tree bark. Then I remembered what it was.

I asked one of the children to walk up to the tree and very gently touch the tail end of the moth. It bounded away, up and down, with every wing beat, looking like a black, red and black butterfly.

It was not a butterfly. It was the under-wing moth! The children were thrilled to see it. So was I. I hadn’t seen one since last fall, just about this time.

For more information on Fields Pond Audubon Center, call 989-2591.