My eyes aren’t getting any better, but perhaps my eye is. I was walking down Hicks Street trying to remember if I’d read Vidal’s The Golden Age, which I found on a stoop a block or two back, when I noticed this.
Figured it was the exuvia of a mantis. Took some pictures, thought it too fragile to put in a pocket so put it back in the bushes, and saw…
I think this mantid is hardening up after emerging, which is also why it is still so pale green. Suspect it’s one of the introduced mantids, Chinese or European.
Proving once again, if I can be Sunday morning didactic for a second, that just walking outside the door will thrust you into nature, especially if you’re looking for it.
Backyard and Beyond 
Thanks for this summer reminder of the insects most like aliens from a far planet. These can get huge, with heads the width of quarters.
Isn’t it curious that we picture aliens so often as insects? Bug-eyed monsters? When, considering their variety and numbers and length of tenure, they are more at home on this planet than we stripling mammals.