When this praying mantis began to straddle a hapless grasshopper, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but suspect that the grasshopper may have been the one that began to pray.
Was the mantis looking at the grasshopper as a potential mate or a potential meal? With praying mantises, the question of mate or meal is a little complicated, because some females reportedly bite off the heads of the males after mating.
As it turned out, the praying mantis ignored the grasshopper and simply climbed over him and the grasshopper’s prayer undoubtedly turned into one of giving thanks.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
What a brilliant capture – full of humour! 😀
Thanks. It’s always fun to shoot interactions between species (and then let the imagination run wild).
It’s interesting to see the size difference with them together.
The praying mantis was the biggest one that I have ever seen. It looked to be about 6-8 inches long.
Wish we could hear more of them – In this area they seem to be a creature of the past
Fantastic — what a catch (the critters in the photo of course). I wonder if praying mantis key on movement; it might have been a good strategy for the grasshopper to just sit there.
I think that is just what he did. Despite the photo, the praying mantis didn’t seem to even notice the grasshopper (but telling the story that way would not have been as much fun).
I liked the buildup in your story.
Thanks, Lyle. This was one of those cases where the photo was only so-so, but it made for a funny story with the proper buildup.
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