Praying Mantis

Daniele: Thanx, :o)

Another great spotting Shu, and a great reminder about why a praying mantis is called a praying mantis. Also bear in mind that many people on Noah are young people ;-). It is fantastic to get more spottings from Africa, which is unfortunately under-represented here so far. It is particularly good to see that type of biodiversity which is not covered by the "safari circuit". Keep them coming!

Just had a look on wiki and they deem the spelling worth mentioning too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praying_man...

I have noticed several spottings mentioning Praying Mantises spelled "Preying" Mantis and think it is worth mentioning that the correct spelling is, in fact, Praying Mantis.
The name, Praying Mantis, is derived from its habit of standing with its modified front legs together looking like they are praying (pray as in prayer). the name has nothing to do with the fact that they are predators which prey of other insects... although i think it's a great pun!

Very cool lichenesque mantis. Thanks. Hope you get an ID on this.

...although i would personally be happy with just the genus.

Christian: Thank you, but the order Mantodea or mantises contains more than 2000 insect species from roughly 15 families. Your suggestion lacks a scientific name, ie "genus species".

Thanx Dan.

Nice! Great camouflage!