The Praying Mantis

For some reason, my family has been thinking about praying mantises lately. First of all, we saw the movie Kung Fu Panda, which had a super fightin' kicking mantis. Later my brother wondered if we had any mantises in our southwest town. Then suddenly, a mantis appeared in Daddy's red wheelbarrow. I found it, so ten points for me!:) We ran out with the camera and took some pictures and then I started to get curious. Who was this holy little green guy in the wheelbarrow? Here's what I found out...

Praying Mantis is a carnivore. He likes to eat moths, grasshoppers, and flies. He may not be able to do karate, but he can nab his dinner with a quick flick of his front arms. Don't be tricked! He's not really praying-he's getting ready to kung fu his supper! Hi-Yah!

Praying Mantids are bigger than the mantises. They can be the size of a teacup. We found a big one at our old house.

Praying Mantises live for only about one year. In that year the female will lay an egg sac with over 100 baby mantises inside. Don't ask me to babysit!

Praying mantises have excellent vision. They can see up to sixty feet away. And I bet their moms don't even make them eat carrots.

The neatest thing about praying mantises is that they are really good at camouflage. Except in red wheel barrows. Don't ever try play hide and seek with a mantis; you'll lose for sure. For more information, check out National Geographic.

Coming Soon:

My week in Provo and a Puppety Surprise...:)