Célula

Oh the magic of a boy and his bugs.   Apparently Daniel talked a bit about Joaquin and his enjoyment of his praying mantis Fast Catcher because when a coworker saw another praying mantis outside the trailer he caught it for Joaquin.  Daniel faithfully brought it home and we managed to keep this one alive for another few weeks before she laid an egg sac and then died.  Joaquin named her Cell because that's what she was made of.  I feel that this name would apply just as well to a whole slew of living creatures, but hey!  Joaquin had a great time watching her catch and eat crickets (especially since she was a much more ferocious hunter than Fast Catcher and she always ate head first) and Daniel got these rather cool pics.  Joaquin handled her passing very well, especially since after she laid her egg sac we warned him it might be imminent.  We have plans to release the praying mantis nymphs (they hatch after winter apparently) in grandma's garden since they'll be helpful eating pests.  (We decided on grandma's garden since I asked Joaquin who had a beautiful garden that might need them and he thought of grandma's) Fortunately we seem to be developing an interest in snakes recently since Mommy is tired of reading books about bugs!