Praying Mantis

The Chinese mantis is one of the species of praying mantises. They originally come from China and were introduced into North America are around 1895 as a source of pest control. The species has spread through much of southern New England in the Northeast United States. It is larger than most of the mantises and growing up to our 10 cm (4 inches) in length and is the largest mantis species in North America.

As I was walking through the field at Allens pond Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary, this praying mantis caught my eye. It was feeding on a bumblebee.

We call them praying mantises because of the way they have their front legs folded, however, because they are such a predatory species shouldn't we call them a "preying" mantis.