What is my name

Critiques [Translate]

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• SkyF (8113)
• [2007-04-10 18:49]

Hi Paul,
great shot, specially6 the black BG, which shows off this manatis so well. The DOF is superp, sharpness throughout the insect.
POV, details and lighting is very nice.
TFS..Sky

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• cedryk (5072)
• [2007-04-10 19:15]

Hello Paul,
Yes, unquestionably that's a mantis but I'm not able to say anything more. Concerning the image I like it's "shy" pose and good details. And correct me if I'm wrong - but do I see some lighter patch of the background among the antennae!? I wonder what's that...
Anyway, a very nice shot!
Best greetings and TFS,
Michal

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• Artur (1102)
• [2007-04-10 20:08]

nice shot
could be a species of Tarachodes
A

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• elefantino (13821)
• [2007-04-11 2:05]

Nice close up, PVS!
Rich in details and well composed.
Good DOF and dark BG.
Andrea

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• stevkds (1705)
• [2007-04-11 9:52]

Hi Paul.
Very nice macro. Excllent composition perfect POV. Good idea. Well done.
tfs. Stev

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• smurali (3312)
• [2007-04-11 12:43]

Paul,

Great details and very nice background.

Regards,
Murali Santhanam

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• Watershed (289)
• [2007-04-11 13:59]

Hi Paul,
Great capture with excellent details and well composed. Excellent POV and DOF. Well done and TFS,
Stéph

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• ridvan (5188)
• [2007-04-11 14:37]

selam paul; This is a beautiful capture, excellent macro work with great details and colours. really interesting insect this is . well POV .Very well done! Thanks so much for sharing
regards
ridvan

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• marieproue (3660)
• [2007-04-11 22:47]

Magnifique, comme si la bestiole riait et te regardait, belle netteté et BG.
Bravo
Marie

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• marmottelolo (14479)
• [2007-04-13 5:19]

bonjour paul
oui je pense qu'il s'agit d'une mante ou alors d'une cousine tres proche!
la patte vient gener un peu pour bien voir la tête mais l'ensemble est bien fait,notament le BG noir realisé grace a vos reglages de vitesse et d'ouverture.
laurent

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• wishnugaruda (14117)
• [2007-04-16 13:58]

Hi Paul,
such an interesting insect, I love to see a mantis with my own eyes, but never found one in nature! So thank a lot for this good shot, very well done
Sabine - wishnugaruda

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• loot (9331)
• [2007-04-20 22:55]
• [2] [+]

Hi Paul

Unfortunately I cannot pin-point this species. I have search for hours (Google & Yahoo, web page after web page, I've even came back and searched through TrekNature) trying to find confirmation of the specific species, but the closest I get is that it must be from the genus Tarachodes, as Artur said.

The Tarachodes mantids are called "Bark Mantids" and although I can find 36 species of Tarachodes on the Internet, apparently only 11 of these are found in the Southern African region. Of these only 4 are found in the Northern/Eastern regions of South Africa that would include the Kruger National Park in the distribution range.

These are:
1. Tarachodes beieri - Mpumalanga & Limpopo Province, to Zimbabwe.
2. Tarachodes insidiator - South Africa, to Mozambique; East Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola.
3. Tarachodes maurus - South Africa, to Namibia, Angola and East Africa.
4. Tarachodes sanctus - KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Limpopo, North-western Province and Northern Cape, to Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo.

The problem for identification is that although I find many lists of these mantids, the photos are in short supply and where I did manage to find photos it would all just identify the insect as Tarachodes spp. Even in my book on South African insects it only shows one sample photo of a Tarachodes mantid, but it does not identify the species.

You have captured the specimen in a good composition and the dark BG really compliments it greatly. The colours and the details are well defined while the exposure was well controlled.

Good work and TFS.
Regards
Loot