Praying Mantis in Lanzarote

Just a day or two after we had the huge moth on our terrace, we were greeted by another huge creature – a praying mantis! The Lanzarote insects are certainly larger than we were used to in the UK!

I kept it in a large jar (complete with air holes of course) and fed it live bugs that i caught… for until Alan’s boys arrived for their summer holidays.

Again, I apologise for the appalling quality of the pictures… they don’t do this magnificent creature justice! The female praying mantis usually devours the head of the male, during or just after copulation… in order to gain extra nourishment ready to produce up to 500 young! As this beastie still had its head – it was either female, or a virgin! )

The second photo shows a thick area at its base. This is is wings. And it quite happily flew away when we set it free. This mantis showed no fear of us, or the dog – which is quite unnerving in itself!

Introducing… the praying mantis!

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