Praying mantises are beneficial garden insects and fun to play with too

[opsec]

I have three young praying mantises living in a couple of bushes in my back yard. I looked up mantises and these are an amazingly useful garden insect to have around. They eat everything that moves. It turns out that they were imported to this continent from Asia a couple of centuries ago specifically for agricultural purposes. They make good pets too apparently. They can even be tamed and will eat out of your hand. I think I like them because they look like the insect equivalent of a cat to me. This one is stalking the cursor on a computer display:


<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/V4GoGfJ8r6o?fs=1&amp;" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/V4GoGfJ8r6o?fs=1&amp;</a>

[Wellspring]

Great timing . . . I just picked up a terrarium to raise a Mantid.
There's some good info here: http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/mantids/praying/
I love watching them in the garden & thought it would be cool to watch one through it's lifecycle.