Praying Mantis

Before I came to Arizona I had never seen a Praying Mantis in "the flesh". I see them regularly now this time of year, and I have been trying for weeks to get a good picture of one of them. I have a Canon Powershot camera which I really love as it is very compact and does a good job of "point and shoot". It even has a macro feature which should allow me to take close up pictures, but I am not always successful with focusing. After a number of tries I finally shot this photo of a pregnant Mantis on one of the agaves in the yard.

Another problem in trying to photograph these amazing insects is their great camouflage. I will be watering one of the pots on the porch when a Mantis will come to the top of the plant and start waving its legs as if to say: "Hey, watch out! I am down here eating some of the bugs! Don't drown me". When I then try to take its picture, the camera focuses on the vegetation rather than on the Mantis.

Then, when I least expected it of course, I ran across, almost literally, this pregnant female on our walkway this morning. She was in a hurry and I tried to keep her occupied while Dan went for the camera. He was able to get her to pose ever so briefly, before she decided to go for the camera and climb all over it. Meanwhile I had to keep the dogs at "sit" because Emma would come over and probably try to eat her. I think she can tell you what every insect, including every grasshopper species, tastes like.