A lucky shot from my recent South Lamma hike, a Praying Mantis having an afternoon snack on one of the abundant but extremely skittish butterflies fluttering all over South Lamma these days.

The butterfly (or moth) had bright-red eyes and was devoured by the Mantis upside down, pretty undisturbed by me trying to get really close, even flashing the scene.

The butterfly has been identified by The Shy Stick Insect Hunter:
Common Red Eye (Matapa aria), commonly named Skipper.

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

By Howard Sheard:

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

More amazing shots by Gap Hung, master of "Stereographic Projection" Photos of the Day.

He's getting seriously into Macro photography now. (Sorry, the links are Facebook-only.)

Sorry, no idea what species these two spiders are, but some of our forum members will surely know?

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

The Mating Game on a ripe Weaver Maid fruit (Scarlet Sterculia Lanceolata), the flaming orange, 5-star fruits high on tree these days with pitch-black, hazelnut-sized seeds hanging from them.

The last time I caught these still unnamed bugs in the act was 2 years ago:

June 29, 2010: Weaver Maid Fruit Orgy

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

A few shots from Yung Shue Ha in South Lamma, several wasp species feasting on a banana flowers. These yellow-striped buggers are the really dangerous wasps.

A sting from one of them left my foot swollen and hurting like heck for 24+ hours a few years back, only controlled by icing it day and night as all pain killers were useless.
But as I didn't bother them, they let me get pretty close for macro shots, totally engulfed in their sweet feast, not bothered by me flashing them repeatedly.

The smaller, all-yellow wasps are less dangerous, but their sting still hurts badly for a few hours, quite similar to a bee sting. They really don't like being watered in my Rooftop Jungle, getting aggravated and sting aggressively if you clear out the dead leaves right after watering. Yes, I speak from painful experience....

But it's harmless, more of a nuisance for a few hours, compared to the big yellow-striped ones (their exact name is somewhere in this Flora & Fauna forum which features pictures and names of the vast majority of Lamma's wildlife, I'd reckon).

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

An almost perfect shot of the biggest, common and most colourful spider on Lamma, female (large) and male (tiny). By Howard Sheard.

She's actually spinning her silk in this photo.

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

Two fine bug shots from Rambler:

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

Oh heck! I have quite a penchant for stick insects. Do they come free with every ferry ticket?

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

Great shot by Eric Sampson, a Crab Spider lurking inside a Frangipani flower:

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

It's Lanternbug season! Watch out to spot this most beautiful of local bugs, IMHO.

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

A fuzzy moth from Siu Yu Yeung:

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

This one is certainly a “strange bug”.