It’s what we refer to as a crappie minnow (sized just right for catching crappie) and they’re actually pretty small, usually around 2 inches or so.
As for it being a small mantid, well, I’m happy to say it’s the only insect in know of in Illinois that’s capable of eating a minnow and I’m alright with that. Don’t need anything that would be snatching up small dogs or something.
The only good bug is a dead bug. Would you like to know more?
Here in central Indiana, they seem to have a breeding ground somewhere out front of my house. Three times in the two summers I’ve been here, I have started driving my car and then spotted a bright-green, baby mantis clinging to the windshield wipers.
I also found one on my dining table, once. Not sure how he got there.
South Jersey, USA…see them weekly in nice weather, and they peak around mid-August. I drove with one on my car roof, at night, at the Jersey shore. Went about 20 miles, top speeds of 70-80 MPH to get rid of him. I opened the door and looked. He hadn’t budged.
Everyone in the entire Philadelphia/South Jersey area is convinced there is a fine for killing a Praying Mantis.
Once in a while, just for fun, I will say I squashed a praying mantis, and w/out fail someone will Gasp, then tell me that it is a $250 fine. I always offer to pay, turn myself in or contact the authorities. It is always a gasp and quote of some fine.
As a youth, I was already aware of an urban legend, and it was nice to see it posted on Snopes in the 90’s.
Praying Mantis attacks and eats a hummingbird:
Dangerous, no. But they’re fearless, and will grab your finger tightly. That doesn’t hurt, really, but it feels weird and gross when it happens! And they don’t readily let go, either.
So, the danger isn’t that thet’ll cut off your finger- it’s more that you’ll die of embarrassment while shaking your finger and yelling “Get it off, get it off!”
Yes, I grew up in South Jersey (Cinnaminson) and we were convinced that there was indeed a $50 fine (~40 years ago) and maybe some jail time involved in killing a Mantis. My buddies and I always handled them with care.
I second the fact that they are voracious eaters, and therefore must be found few and far between for their own good.
We created an insect terrarium in , I believe it was third grade. Everyone took the little clear plastic jars the teacher gave us and collected dozens of bugs.
Then someone scored a mantis, which had the whole place cleared out in the space of a couple of days.
Would you believe I used to work for those guys? It’s published about 1.5 miles from where I’m sitting.
Years ago, I had a friend who was an amateur gardener, and she’d seen ads in a magazine for praying mantises. You can buy them, supposedly to keep down the population of insect pests in your garden. So, she gave it a try, and bought a bunch of mantises.
Did it work? Well, yes and no. The problems were twofold:
Mantises have voracious appetites.
They’re not very discriminating about what they eat.
A praying mantis will eat almost anything that moves- including other mantises (which means the dozens of mantises you buy will be down to three or two or one in a hurry). Moreover, they don’t eat just the “bad” insects you want to get rid of. They’ll also eat bees, butterflies and ladybugs. Hence, your flowers may not get pollinated, and you may see an upsurge in the aphid population (ladybugs eat aphids, which are far too small to be of any interest to mantises).
Well, I dunno about catching and/or raising a praying mantis, but we have them out here in Nevada, so that kind of answers the question of how rare they are. They were EVERYWHERE in San Antonio, Texas (which is where I lived when I was a kid) along with walking sticks, and those two bugs made for some interesting nightmares (I was nine, the things were as big as my head at the time).
The only difference I can see in the manti from Texas and here in Nevada is the ones here are brown, and the ones down there were green. 'bout the same size and body structure.
Any kind of mantis freaks me out, though. They’re creepy, and they watch you. The fact that they’re so calm and so murderous kinda freaks me out.
~Tasha
On Sunday my dog and I were walking around the Elgin Community College campus while my kid was at an orchestra practice. While on a mowed area between a parking lot and an overgrown marshy area, I noticed something large flying in my general direction from the scrub. At first I thought it was a mating pair of dragonflies, but when it landed near me I took a look and saw a very large mantis. So - no, I don’t consider them particularly rare in the Chicago burbs.
Thanks for the link rowrrbazzle; you answered my question before I even had to ask it. I had never seen any growing up in Chicagoland, but I’ve seen a few in just the last two years. Of course, the last one was at a Chuck-E-Cheese which pretty much proves that they will eat anything.
When I was a kid, I let a praying mantis climb up my arm once. It hurt. I probably wouldn’t do that again.
Am I the only one, when I see a female praying mantis eating the head of her fatally amorous partner, who thinks, “I wonder what that tastes like”?
I think you might be, Cervaise.
I have seen two mantises in my whole life, both since moving to Maryland. One was just on Sunday - I saw something flying, out of the corner of my eye, and when I got near to where it landed I was shocked to see that it was in fact a mantis and not a songbird. It was about five inches long and blended in with its surroundings perfectly.
What, you’ve never tried head during sex? :dubious:
Wow…just…perfect comeback… 
Saw another one Monday, at a car dealer on Roosevelt in Lombard.
Nope, not too rare.
What was he driving?
Seriously, that’s not more than five minutes away from where I’m sitting right now. I would have figured that the cold would have knocked them out already. There’s still hope for me!