Nice photo. It looks like he has a snack in his hands.
Mickey

Yummy stink bug!
Karyn

Good pictures but I don't know how she can eat hanging upside down...

Suzanne

.....mmmmh, I had a visitor when we went to Tunisia last Nov. Could this be her long lost cousin?
Is it eating your plumies then, looks like a large chunk of leaf in her 'hands'? This Preying Mantis was camouflaged amongst the blackberried plant behind me, and as we were all from the UK and don't see them back home, folks wanted a pic of it so guess who ended up with it crawling up their arm to pose! It didn't half tickle!
Gill.

Haha, great pic Gill! Cousins for sure, though with quite different accents! No it wasn't eating my plumie or the pictures would have been showing it smashed on the ground! It was making an afternoon snack of a green stink bug and seemed to be rather enjoying it.

Kevin

Yet another cousin of your mantis. I interrupted this one yesterday while she was preying for her daily bug.

Philip

aww the next one is kind of cute in a wier way lol. it looks like she wanted you to take the picture of her lol.

i also just had one on my unbrella by my plumies. didnt happen to get a picture though. but the all must be related lol

Good to know that they like plumeria!! They also eat hummingbirds, which I love, so I will keep a look out for those little buggers to move them into someone else's yard!! Christy :)

I collect as many mantis egg cases as I can find and put them in the yard and greenhouse. I can usually find plenty but we occasionally buy them along with ladybugs and lacewings. They are one of my favorite insects and I love to watch them. Christy I saw that pic of the mantis eating the hummer, Gross!!!! I don't think that's a common occurance. A pair of praying mantises got me suspended from preschool. lol
Karyn

Hi,
On the praying manthis. I read up on it on google, thought it said they eat bugs..are good ones on the plants. Have about 4 in my garden now, have one upside down, watching out for bugs. . I have not seen the plumeria leaves eaten, will look. lots of lady bugs too.

I would not like the praying mathis to bother my hummingbirds.. love them in my yard.

good or bad bugs?
Karen B.

Ok I see it now, the 'leaf' in the 2nd pic I thought it was munching on was in fact the stink bugs body! I just presumed it had nibbled off a rather symmetrical leaf butty for breakfast.
Whilst on the subject.....and before anyone else asks as I'm certain we are all eager to learn.....Karyn, come on, please inform us as to why you, and presumably the 2 Mantises got booted from pre-school?? Did you put them in your teachers top drawer?
Gill.

Hi Karen B,

Praying Mantises are very good bugs that occasionally do bad things. TheyÂre carnivores that devour other bugs, usually bugs you donÂt want around. TheyÂve been known to eat honeybees, spiders, ladybugs and other bugs you would prefer they leave alone. They are not 100% accurate in killing only pest species. They do not eat leaves. There is a series of pictures on the web showing a praying mantis eating a hummingbird; this is probably a very rare event.

Philip

PS: Karyn, Gill isn't the only one with an inquiring mind!

Praying mantises are probably the best garden bug you can have. If I could only have one beneficial insect it would be a mantis.

I've been interested in bugs and all critters for as long as I can remember and probably before that. When I was 3 I took a pair of praying mantises into preschool for show and tell. to make it more interesting I tossed a cricket into the cage. Well the mantises did what they are supposed to do, they ripped it limb from limb. Evidently many of my classmates were traumatized, what wussies! lol The asked my parents to pick me up and to please re-evaluate what was appropriate to bring for show and tell. my Mom told them that she thought the mantises were a great idea for sharing with the class. Way to go Mom!
Karyn

Nice one Karyn! I too have always been into all things creepy-crawlie and raised scores of caterpillars into butterflies and moths as a kid. When I worked at our local village Primary school, we had a huge glass fish tank in which we kept insects in.....they were rather prolific breeders. One kid forgot to put the lid on after feeding them and they all escaped, they went everywhere including in the headmistresses drawers of her desk. It took us weeks to capture the little blighters.
Gill.

Gill the operative word is "was" when talking about yourself. Much to DH and my Mother's dismay I've never grown out of it. lol I'm 44 yrs old and still crawling around looking for critters or bringing different pets into the house. DH does draw the line at snakes and won't allow me to bring the ones I catch inside the house. I only keep them a few days to let the kids watch them and then they are released. I'm great with animals and plants. If I was half as good with people there's no telling what I could accomplish. lol
Karyn

hello, Karyn, Gill, and all, thanks for the stories.. you are very entertaining.

sue

A friend of mine bought a few mantis egg cases from a nursery. They came in a cardboard container. He forgot about them for a week or so and upon opening up the container he found about 200 heads turn toward him and 200 pairs of eyes looking at him like he was their Momma or something.

Hi All... new to this forum... We have loads of very large, bright green praying mantises in the yard. I've seen them all over the garden and in my potted plants for the past 2 summers. They've been great little hunters, helping get rid of the harmful bugs.

I wish I'd taken a picture of the one that was perched on the top step of the garage, looking over the edge into the herb bed, hoping to spot a meal walking in the oregano!

And recently, my husband caught one and brought her inside to hunt amongst my jungle of houseplants! She was in my jungle overnight, then she flew out the window we opened for her to hunt in larger pastures!

They are very cool insects!

What a great post! Not only were the stories hilarious, but I learned some new info on good bugs. Thanks everyone!

I'm a big lover of Hummingbirds & Butterflies and I know the harm the Chinese Mantids can do to these entertaining garden visitors.
They're cool looking, but I'll take those aphid-eating Ladybugs over a Mantid anyday!

Here's an assassin bug on my Lurline. Also a benificial insect.