Rural Perspectives: Praying Mantis

Praying mantises  (Mantodea) have triangular heads with bulging eyes supported on flexible necks. Their elongated bodies may or may not have wings, but all Mantodea have forelegs that are greatly enlarged and adapted for catching and gripping prey; their upright posture, while remaining stationary with forearms folded, has led to the common name, praying mantis.

Mantises were considered to have supernatural powers by early civilizations, including Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, and Assyria. A cultural trope popular in cartoons imagines the female mantis as a femme fatale. Mantises are among the insects most commonly kept as pets. Sexual cannibalism has sometimes been observed, where about a quarter of male-female encounters result in the male being eaten by the female. Source: Wikipedia.