Last week I spent a day at the Melbourne Museum, mainly at Bugs Alive! doing some photographic research for my Myth-entomology project. Bugs Alive! is unquestionably my favourite exhibit in the museum. These pictures are a heavily edited selection from the dozens I took that day.
I was particularly entranced by the bewitching Rainforest Mantis pictured directly above, and returned several times to admire her. She was guarding a tiny egg case, called an ootheca (see photograph second from base.) It was well camouflaged, and if not for the small label on her enclosure, I doubt I would have spotted it half hidden amongst the leaves of a branch. Incredibly, an ootheca can hold up to 100 eggs.
