Praying Mantis: Another new neighbor

I opened the door to the Shack as I always have. The difference this time was that something hopped in just before me: a greyish praying mantis. Since it wasn’t green as I have come to know them I assumed it wasn’t yet mature.

Being a bug lover [but there are exceptions]  I had no reason to kill it so I carefully got it into the palm of my hand and placed it outside on the carport floor.

Getting my camera I joined and observed.

There is something ethereal and prehistoric about this creature, the way it looks and moves. And whoever first gave it the moniker “Praying Mantis” was right: that is exactly what one of its poses looks like.

In slow motion it ascended a thin piece of steel that is one of four legs of a shelf I had just finished making. Stopping at the seven foot level it surveyed the panorama.

It then flew and alighted on a green cushion resting on a table.

Next stop was the table edge itself where it hesitated and looked over the precipice. I could read its mind: can I make the jump over to the saw horse? Its deliberation reminded me of Evel Knievel doing a last minute on-scene evaluation of a stunt.

YES you can do this, I exhorted!

Oops, it came up short but landed on the floor without injury. Maintaining focus it continued its trek up a leg of the saw horse it failed to vault to. It arrived at a bolted connection at the top as if it was making a house call.

There it spent the night.

The next morning it was still on the job. I intervened and propped a shovel handle-side up so that it could walk down to an adjacent potted lime tree. It took the hint and found a spot on its trunk.

Even with a closer image there is no way to really appreciate the first-hand connection humans can make with animals of all kinds: this one kept looking at me repeatedly turning its head in my direction. And at different times it began cleaning its front claws fastidiously as a dog would lick its paws.

By the morning of the third day the mantis had vanished.

Observations ended I went online to learn about this species of insect called Mantids. The one pictured is common in Texas and is called Stagmomantus Carolina.

It can adapt its color to match surroundings: grey, the color of concrete.

Contrary to assuming that the prayer stance makes this a docile creature, it is anything but. It can sway itself mimicking a branch in the wind but in an instant become “….an almost perfect insect hunting machine.” Gardens benefit as it devours mosquitos, flies and moths.

That talent is also used on the mating partner as his head becomes her lunch.

[Hey, that’s Mother Nature.]

For more detail about “…wonderfully weird…..praying mantis……” go to:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficials/beneficial-20_mantid_praying_mantis.htm]