This is the New Zealand Green Praying Mantis. They were kindly delivered by my friend Jamie

I was lucky enough to get two of them. They were very active in the jar. I then moved them to larger condo type container with a skylight

The Mantis has a blue mark on each front leg. The forearms are quite yellow - Matilda the female doing her best RAR face

A spot of cleaning. You can see the yellow forearm

They seem very expressive. You can see the wing of Matt the male behind Matilda.

Praying Mantis always seem to be in this pose, ready to strike. You'd be forgiven for thinking they only had four legs

The 'I couldn't hurt a fly face' In reality a Mantis will snatch it's prey out of the air and eat them head first

Matt sitting on Matilda. Damn lazy male Mantis! You could clearly see their abdomens moving in an out.

The feet of a Mantis are very grippy

One of my favourite shots. In the full size image you can make out the hexagonal structure of the eye

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