CALLING A PRAYING MANTIS a "bug" is a bit crass I guess. They're actually strikingly beautiful insects. They have slender streamlined bodies in a variety of glistening greens. They move with calculated caution and predatory stealth. If you get close to them they turn their heads to look directly at you, as if to say 'yes human, I see you clearly…" Provoke them a bit more and they'll start swaying their bodies side-to-side the same way hawks do with their heads when hunting. They're both measuring how far away their prey is, and exactly when to strike at you. No fear in them at all.

This 5-6" beauty was sitting in my driveway in September when I opened my garage door. I decided I had to move her since I needed to use the car. I coaxed her onto a shovel and carried her to the tall weeds beside my house. She was more than willing to scramble into a tangle of branches. What struck me immediately was how perfectly she blended into the environment. If I hadn't know she was there I'm sure I would never have seen her, despite her enormous size compared to most insects. As I walked away she opened her wings and like a miniature helicopter lifted off from the weeds and glided downslope to the woods and fields below.

Tags: Mantis