The Praying Mantis

Was heading out to mow last night about 5 pm and saw this little guy climbing up my truck.


My flash was in the ON position when I took this photo with my phone camera.  It kinda washed him out a bit.  This one was more brown than the usual green ones I find around the farm.  Not sure if that is due to a different class of mantis or due to age.

Best guess is "young adult."  He's about half the size of a full-grown adult mantis.  To be fair, I am using the male gender here for brevity, but really, I have no clue if this mantis is male or female.

The name Praying Mantis comes from the way in which these insects hold their front folded limbs in a prayer-like configuration.  Of course, they sometimes are called preying mantis due to their predatory nature.

I do recall reading a book in which a human was facing a GIANT praying mantis (best guess is one of Piers Anthony's books).  If the hero of the story walked AWAY from the mantis, he was viewed as prey and would surely fall victim to the lightning fast strike of those forearms.  So, to outwit the insect, our hero walked TOWARD the mantis.  This confused it so much that it did not attack - as in its little brain, anything moving toward it was not a meal.  Not sure why I remember that.  Guess it's good knowledge to have in case I am ever facing a 5 story praying mantis...

Mantises (or mantes) eat other insects - which is totally fine by me.  Eat all the flies you'd like there little guy.

He dropped to the ground, walked under the truck and off into the grass - looking for his next meal, I guess.

Although quite common, I bet I do not see more than 2 or 3 each year.  With the witness of this guy, my mantis sightings have just surpassed my snake sightings for the year.  A bit unusual for snakes this year, I only saw 2.  Normally I see quite a few.  I do like having snakes around the farm as they eat rodents.  Again, help yourselves to all the rodents you'd like there snake buddies...

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