Shooting portraits again, a batch of mantises have gotten old enough to work with.  Orchids are always charming to work with but this girl is a little more skittish than ones in the past.  I've been struggling to find a color I like for the background for this species, still not satisfied really.

This was going to be a video but the little bugger died while I was setting it up.

This is a Chinese mantis, the species I ever worked with.  They're cheap as dirt to get but I was oddly reluctant to get any.  I started the portrait series well after I had stopped raising this species so it had to happen.  Will take a few more once they're older.  I'm down to three but will probably lose one of those.  She over ate and now has a folded abdomen which is a problem that plagues this species.