The Mantis is an insect that has a little resemblance to grasshoppers, but unlike grasshoppers, mantis can be easily identify by their triangular head and powerful forelegs that is often bent into a position that looks like hands in prayer which is why the insect is commonly called the praying mantis.

Like most insects, a mantis starts as an egg, hose through a 3 stage incomplete metamorphosis and has six legs with a body divided into three basic parts, the head, the torax and the abdomen mostly protected by a strong exoskeleton. It has a unique triangular head that carries two antennas and two compound eyes and three simply eyes at the top of it's head. That was no mistake, it makes a total of five eyes.

They belong to a family of insects known as Mantidae and the specific mantis here is the Sphodromantis viridis. A little larger in size compared to other mantis.

Mantis are often found in the warmer regions like the tropics. You can see plenty of them in the tropical rainforest, although a few species can be found in deserts and grasslands.

The praying mantis is a fierce predators that hunts and eats a wide variety of smaller insects. It's feeding habit has made it a friend of the gardener. If present in a garden, it protects the vegetables and flowers as it eats up all insects that would have caused damage.
They hunt live prey, putting all those eyes to good use and it's ability to turn it's triangular head almost 180°. The Mantis has well adapted fore arms that clamp onto it's prey with sharp spikes that makes escape close to impossible.

For better hunting, the praying mantis often uses camouflage effects to blend with it's surroundings. Some are green with vains like a leaf or as brown as a dead leaf And can have more elaborate colours that makes it look like flowers.

Though a mantis has six legs, only the four hind legs are really used for walking around and climb up with the help of the spines on their legs. Young mantises do not have well developed wings so only the adults can fly but the young mantises can jump.

I saw this mantis and got inspired to make this entry. The way it moved was interesting so I pulled out my Nokia C30 and captured this video.