Look what graced our little white porch today. We trapped the little bugger for a while, and watched him tip-toe gingerly up the side of a curved glass jar (always sliding backwards towards the base). Inquisitive little bug. It got tired of me taking close-ups and decided the only way to get rid of me was to jump on my camera – right in my face! Screaming loud enough for the entire block to hear me, I relented and went back inside!
Quotes from the What’s That Bug site:
“All American species belong to the family Mantidae.”
“I now believe that the Norwegian name “kneeler” is from the same reason we say “praying” mantis: you kneel when you pray. At least if you accept the “praying” spelling. At least it makes sense. Why didn’t I think of that before?”
Q: “Thanks a lot for your explanation. And what is the correct spelling? “Preying” or “praying?” Both of them make sense.”
A: “Both spellings are correct, depending upon the author. I prefer to spotlight the hunting versus the religious connotation.”
[BOO, HISS.]
This author will call it a PRAYING Mantis. How sweet….
Blessing his food before he savagely rips it’s crunchy little head off.