Hopefully eaten lots of pests in the process!

as before I wish we had these here. they are amazing animals. great photos Paul.

Yes they eat non-stop whatever crosses their path. Thanks Eileen

Fine out of doors, but scary when you find one on the taps in the bathroom at night in New Zealand!

uhh. I hope that didn't happen to you Sheila. They look like the stuff of nightmares, but really quite harmless. I wouldn't want to see that either.

It happened to me Paul! I left it alone and someone braver than me got it outside in the morning . . .

Exotic and beautiful.

Beautiful pics . Like SBG I wish we had them here.

They are fun to have around. I love how they turn their heads to look at you straight in the eye. They have an alien-like quality.

You are right about about the mantis being a boy. I count 8 abdominal segments. A female would have 6. It is still in an immature phase about one or two more molts from being an adult with fully developed wings.

hmm well he's been hanging around my back border since he was a nymph. If he's still around as a full adult, I'll be sure to post more pics. thanks

Soon the adult females will produce airborne pheromones to attract him. If he is lucky enough he will hookup with a well fed female with plenty of eggs. She will let him copulate and in most cases let him go. It is the malnourished female with few eggs that is the danger. It is the underfed female that will produce the most attractants to draw males for feeding purposes,not sex, so she can produce more eggs to be fertilized. As soon as a male shows up the first thing she will do is bite his head off to avoid copulation. Due to a nervous system involving a chain of ganglion (they can best be described as secondary brains) he will still attempt to copulate sans head so she will fight him off as she eats. One or two males consumed should do the trick and once enough eggs are produced she will allow copulation though once that is accomplished he will have to get away from her like a bat out of hell. I wish him luck.

Oh boy! a bug's life. Not easy being green. These are considered exotic insects up here. I've seen a couple walking around. They must be siblings and I can assure you they are both very well fed. They wait in ambush for bumblebees.