Making friends with a cheeky Mantis.

She was a very determined lady, and I had to submit to her wants.

Why do you think I call her cheeky? Come and see inside the post.

She was walking across a paved walkway, and I had to pick her up fear of someone stepping on her. It is a female Green Mantid and the locals call it an African Praying Mantis.
Let's see what Wikipedia had to say about it.

Sphodromantis gastrica, with the common names African mantis or common green mantis, is a species of praying mantis from Africa. It averages 65–75 millimetres (2.6–3.0 in) in body length, and has a very diverse diet, hunting any prey of reasonable size. It has a lifespan of approximately 332 days and usually females live longer than males. Their survival rate until adulthood is about 41.8%. Previously classified as Hierodula bicarinata (Saussure, 1869) and as Sphodromantis guttata (Giglio-Tos, 1907), this species has been found in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and East Africa.

Source

Not for a moment would she sit still in my hand.

Instead, she decided to clamber up onto my shirt sleeve.

Check me, check you is the saying here that she gave me the eye, so as to say. What do you think you are doing?

Hey! She said. Don't I know you? Wait, I will come closer for a better look.

Whoa! A first time for me to get a mantis on my camera :) She jumped right on to my camera lens. Did I tell you that she was cheeky?

Now take a look at this below, as my wife took the photos with her phone.

I swung the camera around towards a bush and gently guided her on to a stem of the bush.

Finally, look how she blends into the bush with her colors. And that was it, just another surprise and she is safe now.

I know that she is a female, as our insect book states that the female is fatter than the male. Now don't let her hear that I am calling her fat, as I would rather say she is more rotund than the male. Lol.

All mantids are alert predators, using their specially modified forelegs to ambush and grasp live prey. Eggs are laid in a frothy mass that hardens as it dries to form a characteristic egg case (ootheca). Nymphs are wingless and offer differ in appearance from the adults. Some mimicking ants during their early developmental stages. Of the 2400 species or so species known globally about 185 occur, in South Africa.

Source: Book: Field Guide to Insects of South Africa. ISBN: 978-1-77584-584-3.

I love these surprises, especially when I have good intent in my heart to save some little insect, or for that matter all wildlife, and I think that Mother Nature knows that. She is full of tricks and if one takes a real interest in nature, then many secrets will be revealed to one. One would think that the insects have carefree lives, but not so as apart from predators, they also have to watch out for the hand of man. I heard the other day that many owls died from poisoning in some areas due to eating poisoned rodents. There is always a good and a sad side to nature, and is that not so with all of us?
Such is life.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.

Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.

Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.

Until next time, cheers!