# Big Bug



## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

So what do you call this guy? 

The sucker is 4” long, biggest bug I’ve ever seen. Looked pretty harmless though.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/praying-mantis/


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

Thanks, I new he looked kind of familiar, just never met one before.


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

Very good bug to have in your garden.

DM


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

DangerMouse said:


> Very good bug to have in your garden.
> 
> DM


I see that now, I should have brought it home, catch and release.


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

You betcha!

DM


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## fabrk8r (Feb 12, 2010)

Besides being helpful in the garden, Praying Mantises also make interesting pets if kept in a terrarium. We found one in our back yard late last summer and the kids spent hours watching it and finding insects to feed it. The kids decided to set it free after a couple weeks so we let it go where we found it.

BTW, there are several youtube videos of Praying Mantises ambushing and eating hummingbirds. They have voracious appetites and I didn't know until researching what they eat that they can be carnivorous. 

Here is one video of a Mantis attacking a bird. The Mantis was unsuccessful in this video and both the bird and the insect survived.

http://youtu.be/ep6vmpcUQR8


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

Well I guess I was wrong on the harmless if it has you in it’s sights.


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## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

When we were kids my mom would pay a bounty for the nests in the spring. We would dig through the bushes in the neighborhood; they were easy to find. My mom would put them in the vegetable garden. You wouldn't believe how tiny the babies are when they hatch out, like this big >---<

My husband caught one tonight to show me in the 8 inch range - funny to come home and find your post :laughing:


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## DexterII (Jul 14, 2010)

While mowing the yard a couple of years ago, I noticed a small bug, probably less than 1/2" long, on my pant leg, but it's relatively unique shape caught my eye, and I realized that it was the smallest praying mantis that I had ever seen. So, since both of us enjoy that type of thing, I carefully relocated it to the tip of my finger, and headed toward the house to show my wife. Son of a gun! At some point that little bugger bit or pinched the pad of my finger, and I ended up with a small blood blister there for a couple of days. They're still neat though, and we're always glad to see them around the garden.


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## dsconstructs (Jun 8, 2011)

I brought one inside once and kept it in a terrarium, very cool to watch them grab and eat insects. A short while later she laid her eggs, and when they hatched out they were indeed very tiny. About the size of small ants, so I set them outside with the lid off to release them all. Hope many of them survived


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