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Winged green insect ~ 9 cm long of Order Mantodea, often called a "praying mantis" because of its usual posture. Because of its predatory nature it is also a preying mantis, though spelling the common name "preying" instead of "praying" is generally considered incorrect.
Suburban neighborhood on insular tropical upland plateau.
Spotted in my back yard amongst garden equipment (image 1). Put it on my forearm (image 2). Called my not quite two year old granddaughter outside to see it. She was not interested in getting a close look (image 3). Not so the granddog, who was very curious (image 4). Eventually its behavior went beyond curious, and whether playing or preying (image 5), could have been harmful to the mantis, which was consequently relocated out of the dog's reach.
Spotted on Mar 18, 2015
Submitted on Mar 18, 2015
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The same mantis was spotted again the following day. Without the distraction of either granddaughter or granddog, I was able to take a better look than was possible the previous day, and observed that the mantis was probably blind in one eye, which was brown, rather than green (image 6). Whether this anomaly was from injury or disease or some other cause is unknown.