The mantis can often be mistaken for a grasshopper but more careful observation will reveal that this creature is very different from that harmless insect.

The mantis has a soft, green color which makes it difficult to see in the undergrowth. To trick its victims the mantis stands up straight and perfectly still, looking like a blade of grass. It holds its front legs with their powerful claws up in front of itself as if it were saying its prayers. This stance has won it the name of praying mantis although one of its American names. Devil’s horse, might be more appropriate, for this is a ferocious insect. If any small creature comes too close, the mantis’s front limbs suddenly spring forward and seize the victim which is dead within seconds.