Praying Mantis pic

[ruffledfeathers]

I have a praying mantis who seems to have set up shop at my house. I regularly see one hanging out on my front porch rocking chairs, or on the fence, or on the back steps, so I assume it's the same little friend. This evening I went out the back door and saw him just standing there on the railing. He and I just stared at each other a while and I snapped a pic of him. IDK why but something about them fascinates me and I think they are adorable. Thought i'd share. I think this photo is so cute!

 

[MarciaLove]

great pic so cool you have a regular! I see lots in our backyard but they are usually different little guys they are the coolest bugs I love them!

 

[tab_xo]

HAHAHAHA Omg.. His face!

What a poser

 

[MikeyTN]

I've been seeing them all over my yard recently too! They're super cool insects!

 

[ParkersMom]

I saw one the other day hitching a ride on the high brake light on the back of a van

 

[Kinny]

SOOO CUTE! Not a fan of bugs but I absolutely adore Praying Mantis'!

 

[kc_y0]

How cute is he hahaha! xD

 

[aliray]

Love the picture, thanks for sharing. We used to have a field behind my house when I was growing up, and there were tons of praying mantis. I used to catch a female every year and keep her thru the spring summer and into fall as a pet. I would feed her canned Calo cat food on a toothpick like a little shishkabob and she would grab it with their front claws ,hold on and nibble. Every one of them liked it and I did that for several years. Beat catching bugs to feed them and Dusty ,my cat never seemed to mind sharing his food. They make great little pets and become rather tame.

 

[SoCalWendy]

Haha he look mischievous. Like he is saying "come a lil closer, I want to eat you!" He is beautiful. When I was a kid I saw one that had blue eyes.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Haha, Aliray, I never knew anyone who had them as pets!! I used to collect those fuzzy caterpillars when I was little. I vividly remember bringing a whole bunch of them home with me in the bib of my overalls. wow.

SoCalWendy--I thought he looked like he wanted to eat me too!! I think the camera weirded him out. He was doing this weird thing with his mouth like he was going to spit at me. I never saw one do that before but I guess I was 'harassing' him with the camera.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

he's really cool

When I was working at petsmart a guy came in often who raises praying mantis. They have very short lives, but come in beautiful variations. And their wing displays are awesome!

 

[JerseyWendy]

AWESOME picture!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Praying Mantis. I'm one of those who buy Ootheca (mantis egg cases) in the spring and hatch them indoors, in a 10 gallon aquarium. Didn't do it this year though because I saw plenty of them throughout the season. They are fantastic at cleaning your garden of nuisance pests the natural way.

Once the babies hatch, it's important to supply a large amount of wingless fruit flies, or they will start eating each other.

I release mine when they are between 3rd and 4th instar.

Here are some pics from last year.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

AW!! So you can actually buy them? i always thought people found the eggs and brought them in to hatch. Wow, there's this whole new world i didn't know about!

 

[JerseyWendy]

YES, you can buy them online, HAHAHAHA. I've always gotten mine here: All praying mantis for sale - Praying Mantis for sale=

Sometimes they have great deals on eBay, too, but watch for the feedback, you don't want to end up with an unviable egg sac.

And yes, they only live one short season. The females get larger and broader than the males. They have to shed their skin MANY times over their short lives until they mature.

There are some GORGEOUS Mantis species available, but I'll only stick to the Chinese Mantis.

 

[aliray]

Wendy Interesting link that I bookmarked just now, thanks for sharing