Yesterday, there were half a dozen mantids in the asters on Pier 6. It was short-sleeve weather, but Honeybees were the only obvious prey. There were, however, a pair of Monarch wings tucked away in the folds of the flower stems, suggesting someone snagged a butterfly. (Sighted about ten living Monarchs yesterday fluttering and gliding in what increasingly seems like a Sisyphean task.)
Last night a cold front plowed through, dropping down 25 degrees from yesterday’s high. I wonder what the mantids did? The Monarchs?
I submitted this image to iNaturalist, which has an automatic ID function. For this very picture, the machine gave me one option: American asters. Um, ok, but…
By the time the robots are as good as us, there won’t be any more bugs.
Backyard and Beyond 
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