Praying Mantis

There are about 2000 species of Praying Mantis but only 18 species live in North America. The remainder live in tropical climates.
In 1977 the State of Connecticut named the European Praying Mantis the state insect. It is not native to North America but fairly proflific.
They have approximately a 1 year lifespan and females will typically lay their eggs in fall as they develop through winter.
Females will frequently cannibalize their male counterpart during the reproductive process.
The large majority of Preying Mantis have two eyes but only one ear located on their underside just forward of the hind legs. This ear comes in handy during flight to protect against predators such as birds and bats.
Those without ears are typically flightless.
They can turn their head 180 degrees.
Don’t typically discriminate what type of insect they eat and larger species will eat frogs and lizards.
Their arms have razor like prongs to help capture and kill their prey.
They will often clutch their arms in a “prayer like” fashion and in a split second with blazing speed reach out and capture their intended subject.

Photographed in central CT with a Nikon D7100 APS-C, 24.1 MP, camera and a Nikon 40mm f/2.8 MACRO lens.

1/200th, f/11, ISO 200, Aperture Priority