Mantis Religiosa

Description:

Fairly large with an elongated prothorax and otherwise slender body, adutls usally bear full wings, although the females wings are often vestigial. The principal feature identifying them is their means of catching prey- the highly specialized raptorial forelegs. The femur is large, carrying powerful and quick-acting muscles for closing the spined, grasping tibia against it, to form a vise which escapes are few. Humaniod behaviors such as following movement with their big "pupiliar" eyes or the ambush position they adopt with their forelegs resembling "praying" has generated much folklore around them.

Habitat:

Rainforest

Notes:

Dominant genera are Stagmomantis & Stagmotoptera which are large and usally green. References: Latin American Insects and Entomology by Charles L. Hogue