An Encounter with Green Conehead Mantises at the Maleha Desert in Sharjah

A ferocious side view of a ferocious female predator

Strategically positioned on top of a flowers in anticipation of prey

Carefully camouflaged on the rows of dark green leaves

Notice the cone like protrusion on its head that looks like a horn

I was back in the Maleha desert trail in Sharjah trying to observe the movement and numbers of locusts and grasshoppers on the desert grassland, when I stumbled upon an evergreen Sodom's Apple Tree adored with its radiant violet colored blossoms. Hidden among its branches, dark green leaves and the bundles of flowers were ferocious predators, Conehead Mantises on the hunt. Their sleek bodies and deep green coloration strategically allows these insect hunters to be camouflage in the chambers of this abundant green spot in the desert. Noticeable as well is the distinct cone like horn protruding on top of  its head. The cone shaped horn gives it a more ferocious appearance! The mantises where strategically positioning itself among the bundles of the violet flowers in anticipation of flying in pollinators. I forgot about my photo hunt for locusts and grasshoppers for a while, these praying predators took my full attention on the cool and windy morning out in the desert.

CONEHEAD MANTIS, Empusa pennata (MANTODEA: Empusidae)

Mantises always reminds us that sometimes beauty can be also ferocious and deadly!

Awesome creatures! Awesome CREATOR!

Thanks for your support and careful attention. 

If you need Pest Management Training, Technical Field Support, On-Line and On-Site Consultancy, please feel free to send me an email: odelon.reyes@gmail.com 

Awesome Termites Mud Tunnel Encounter in Deira, Dubai

Termites workers speedily walking a mud tunnel super highway 

An exposed chamber of the mud tunnel in a heavily damaged cabinet

An armed column of soldier termites moving along the tunnel

In terms of patience, persistence and the power of a growing population (wow I got to express it in 4Ps!) nothing beats the movement, tenacity and determination of  termites colonies on the move. I was conducting a site visit and inspection for a prestigious facility in the heart of the commercial area in Deira, Dubai when I was awestruck by the level of infestation and sporadic movement of termites in the facility. By simply feeling off the paint of the exterior portions of cabinets and walls, the severe extent of years of damage to the wooden panels and structures is quickly revealed. The exposed mud tunnels looks like a super highway where numerous termites criss-cross and encounter each other as they go about their assigned task for the colony.  

Termites reminds us that thru patience, cooperation and focused determination (especially in sheer high numbers) can change 

Awesome creatures! Awesome CREATOR!

Thanks for your support and careful attention. 

If you need Pest Management Training, Technical Field Support, On-Line and On-Site Consultancy, please feel free to send me an email: odelon.reyes@gmail.com 

A Lynx Spider Encounter at the Creek Park Dubai

A Lynx Spider setting up to ambush its next prey

Holding on as the wind swings its leafy hunting perch 

It was a casual early morning walk around the outskirts of the Creek Park that I got to see flowers and leaves having feeding marks. Keen to check out what was the herbivore doing all these random damage I was surprised to see not the potential beetle or lepidopteran larvae causing the mayhem on the leaves but to spot a lone predator setting up in ambush position. As the soft wind causes the leaves to sway, the lynx spider was determined to hold on and search for potential herbivore targets.

LYNX SPIDER, Oxyopes spp. (ARANEAE: Oxyopidae) 

Awesome creatures! AWESOME CREATOR!

Thanks for your support and careful attention. 

If you need Pest Management Training, Technical Field Support, On-Line and On-Site Consultancy, please feel free to send me an email: odelon.reyes@gmail.com 

 

An Encounter With A Growing Arabian Paper Wasp Hive Inside A Cave in Wadi Showkha

An Arabian Paper Wasp Nest being build inside a cave

Busy inside the cave attending to their growing nest

I was spelunking in the mountain caverns along the Wadi Showkha trail in my search for wild honey from Arabian Dwarf Honeybees hives when I came upon a wide and deep cavern. These wide and deep caverns serves not as safehouses for honeybees but also for foxes, desert owls and vipers. Amazingly and thankfully, I did not have an encounter with a resting fox inside its den or a viper. What I found inside was not my target sweet loot of fresh honey but a growing nest of Arabian Paper Wasps. They found the cool cave and established their colony inside!

ARABIAN PAPER WASPS, Polistes watii (HYMENOPTERA: VESPIDAE)  

Awesome creatures!  Awesome CREATOR! 

Thanks for your support and careful attention. 

If you need Pest Management Training, Technical Field Support, On-Line and On-Site Consultancy, please feel free to send me an email: odelon.reyes@gmail.com 

 

An Encounter with Black Soldier Flies at the MAPECON Research Center in Alaminos, Laguna, Philippines

Black Soldier Fly are truly wonderful insects

These soldiers are engaged in a battle against waste

Soldier flies are now the big stars of insect farming

Soldier fly pupal cases up close

Pupal cases carefully reared in plastic trays

It was a truly inspiring and eye-opening encounter during my recent guided tour at the MAPECON Research Center and Manufacturing Plant strategically located in Alaminos, Laguna, Philippines. From the Greenovations, the amazing history of research and development by its Patriarch and Founder, the warmth and heart of the Team on site and the splendid showcase of working with nature, the day visit was truly an awesome experience. Among the truly awesome highlights of my visit was to discover the presence of  a black soldier farming facility in the Research Center. The black soldier fly farm was a key component of their waste management, composting and fish feeds production program - a truly sustainable approach.   

BLACK SOLDIER FLY, Hermetia illucens (DIPTERA: Stratiomyidae)     

Awesome Creatures. Awesome CREATOR!

     

Thanks for your support and careful attention. 

If you need Pest Management Training, Technical Field Support, On-Line and On-Site Consultancy, please feel free to send me an email: odelon.reyes@gmail.com 

 

A Tribute to My Super Caring, Cute and Charismatic Birdie Buddy - Sylvester (2020-2025)

Cuteness in Blue that is how you will describe my bird buddy-Sylvester

He is always attentive and wants to be beside her pretty Lady Tweety

He is also a big consumer of millet

Hi Lady Tweety! Would you like to stroll outside your nest box? 

A lovely birdie couples photo

Blue, black and white with loads of cuteness

July 14, 2025 early AM flying into my palm to say goodbye

I told my buddy, its OK, you can fly high now, I am letting you go. One final gaze then he breathe his last and went to sleep calmly in my palm. Goodbye my Birdie Buddy! Farewell loyal birdie friend. Farewell Sylvester! 

Sylvester The Blue Budgie

July 12, 2020-July 14, 2025

A true birdie friend, loyal companion, sweet birdy lover to Lady Tweety and caring bird daddy to their chicks to the end!

Awesome creature!

Awesome CREATOR!

An Encounter with Tiger Beetles in Mt. Makiling, Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines

A lone tiger beetle on the prowl of a leaf surface

Tiger beetles are tiny but fast and ferocious hunters

It is truly an awesome adventure and joyful treat to explore and undertake an early morning hike in the lush rainforest reserve area of Mt. Makiling located near my Alma Mater, University of the Philippines at Los Banos (UPLB). This amazing rain forest reserve is blessed with an awesome diversity of flora and fauna that will keep an explorer like me engaged and enthralled for long periods of time. In one of my exploits, I had this encounter with a tiny but ferocious tiger - a tiger beetle that is! On top of a deep green colored leaf, its bright yellow armor and the jet black pattern revealed to me its ominous presence. It was truly amazing to see a ferocious insect predator prowling on the rainforest! This was a brief but memorable encounter for me, as I was trying to find a better photo shoot angle, the tiger move away so fast among the leaves, that I lost sight of it in the undergrowth.  

TIGER BEETLE, COLEOPTERA, CICINDELIDAE

Awesome Creatures. Awesome CREATOR!

     

Thanks for your support and careful attention. 

If you need Pest Management Training, Technical Field Support, On-Line and On-Site Consultancy, please feel free to send me an email: odelon.reyes@gmail.com