Praying Mantis

Description:

A very, very small Praying Mantis at home on my Basil plant. The second photo might give you some idea how small he is. Mantodea (or mantises, mantes) is an order of insects that contains over 2,400 valid species and about 430 genera[1] in 15 families worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. Most of the species are in the family Mantidae. Now for the Wikipedia description: The English common name for any species in the order is "praying mantis",[2] because of the typical "prayer-like" posture with folded fore-limbs, although the eggcorn "preying mantis" is sometimes used in reference to their predatory habits.[3][4] In Europe and other regions, the name "praying mantis" refers to only a single species, Mantis religiosa. The closest relatives of mantises are the termites and cockroaches (order Blattodea). They are sometimes confused with phasmids (stick/leaf insects) and other elongated insects such as grasshoppers and crickets.