Praying Mantis

I found this praying mantis over the weekend in a dwarf alberta spruce tree in the front of our house. As I held the camera above him he reached up to grab it. Those photos came out too blurry. When I held my hand out, it climbed onto it. Later on in the day he was right by the front door.

To learn more about the Praying Mantis:
http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/mantids/praying/index.html

When I was in elementary school I had brought in a praying mantis egg case in a jar so we could watch it hatch. From what I remember it happened over a weekend or a vacation time. I guess the holes in the jar were too big and they got out and into the room the teacher had told me. I guess they looked liked the little ones in the pictured below. Anyway they were gone when we got back to school.
Click on the mantis nymphs 2 picture to see what they look like:
http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4th/kkhp/1insects/PrayMan.html

Copyright © 2007 Deborah Sharp Loeb