clint-patterson-eye view super close Praying Mantis-unsplash

First time you noticed a Praying Mantis

Do you remember the first time you saw a praying Manitis? Better yet, what about the first time you noticed the sly bugger blending in with the scenery; Praying Mantis attached to a tall blade of grass in an open field? Did it mesmerize your childhood eyes? Transcendental experience for this curious lad. I did not believe this modest, well composed entity was from planet earth.  No other insect is truly like the praying mantis. There are two schools of Martial Arts based on the Praying Mantis movements for how it mates, waits, stalks and kills its prey.

Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 430 genera in 15 families. The largest family is the Mantidae (“mantids”). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They have triangular heads with bulging eyes supported on flexible necks. Their elongated bodies may or may not have wings, but all Mantodea have forelegs that are greatly enlarged and adapted for catching and gripping prey; their upright posture, while remaining stationary with forearms folded, has led to the common name praying mantis.

Here are almost all the facts on the Praying Mantis.

Praying Manti Images from Unsplash.