I happened to look out the window this afternoon and saw what I thought was a grasshopper on one of the flowers. Grasshoppers have been turning my plant leaves into Swiss cheese, so I went outside to go squish it. Instead what I found was a praying mantis! I’m no National Geographic photographer, but I was able to get close enough to snap a few shots before it disappeared into the foliage. Although, after reading up on mantises I’m glad I didn’t get too close; they are predators, they will bite (no venom, thankfully), and while they eat mostly insects some of the larger mantises have been said to eat prey such as lizards, snakes, or rodents!
Click on the photo to enlarge–pretty cool!
What an awesome picture (especially close up)!
Julie