You think YOU are special?

Think again.

I made a friend today.

Monti devoured a thick black spider while I was having a conversation with one of the succulents. I heard the crunch. That’s how I knew we would become good friends.

I learned a few things. My friend is into posing for the camera.

He is smart and knew I was there. He turned his head every time I moved and when he got tired of me he tried walking away.

He’s not good at walking away.

I left him alone. I advised him, it’s not for too long.

Common name for this creature is Mantis.

Mantises feed upon live prey within their reach. They are waiting for prey to approach. So if you want them to eat some grasshoppers like I do, remember they are sloths of the insect world, so be patient.

The structure of the forelimbs of the praying mantis remotely resembles human arms bent at the elbows. For it’s praying posture, mantises are named “Bogomol”, which means “a praying man” in Russian.

Even the great Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus gave this insect a name associated with religion -“Mantis religiosa”, that is “religious prophet”.

by the way, in case you didn’t believe

here is the succulent

Happy Monday!

Cheers.