Praying Mantis
A reader sends in her response to our previous Yellow Beauty story
After seeing the yellow mantis, I thought you would like to see the beautiful mantis I “raised” in my garden in an Azalia bush. I watched him every day as he grew from a match head size ball of white fluff to this (pic1), taking on the pink colour of the Azaelia bush and then adult size (pic2) and then sadly left. I even used to put an umbrella over him when it rained haha. One day he came to visit me inside and was sitting on my dining room chair. I gently took it back outside.
I emailed a Professor of Cell Biology at Brown University who asked a Research Associate with a Ph.D. at New York State Museum. AMAZED they replied! It is a Psuedocreobotra wahlbergii (Spiny Flower Mantis). They are so rare, they are hard to come by so I felt very honoured to be able to watch one grow for a couple of weeks.
