Garden: Chinese Mantid

By

Shosha

I guarantee you, that the reason that this "little" lady is so large is because it's a She. the Males of all the mantis family are small.... hhmm, the better to eat them, I suppose ;)

By

Laniegirl

Well if it is a "she", maybe she had a very large mate, since they devour them after mating! LOL

By Susi (Guest Post)

That is one HUGE praying mantis. I have never, ever, seen one so large! It makes you wonder (besides the steroids) what he (or she) has been eating!

By Linda (Guest Post)

Miracle Gro-I think!

By

Deeli

I got a huge giggle out of the steroid question ;-)

By

Selahgal

I took a video of a mantis a few days ago on our front porch. He followed me as I video taped him from many angles and then suddenly, he jumped onto the camera then onto me! What a funny video that turned out to be! Got some excellent 'still' shots of him also. [See below] I love these insects and am just amazed by God's creation! I even watched two or three 'hatchings' and got them on video last year. Hundreds of miniature mantis babies falling out of the nest! INCREDIBLE! I wish we had more of them! They are SO COOL.

By

Kreatvmuzk1111

We have big ones here in Loveland, CO. too. I think they are so interesting and last year I tried to catch on in a jar. Much to my surprise, it moved very fast and was very angry and it really scared me. I just wanted to see it up close. Now I will not bother them! ha!

By

Wendopolis

There was one of those on the side of our house last summer. Huge!

By

Laniegirl

I am correcting myself. After further research I find this is a Chinese Mantid, the largest of the Praying Mantis. Here is a link.
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/chinese_mantid.htm