Hello folks who wonder if the folks who take a photo of the moon using their smartphone even look at that photo ever again in their life,

We all pray for different reasons. Some pray for fast recovery of their loved ones, some pray that the ones they hate don't recover quick or at all, some pray for more views on their social media posts, some pray for world peace while some pray for a PlayStation 5 deal during the holiday season. I prayed that Bennifer (Ben + JLO for people living under a rock 🙄) becomes a thing and guess who God listened to.

Take a minute and tell me what this looks like to you. Probably a predator's mouth with a row of teeth.

The video above is not the mouth but the legs of a predator who prays to prey. Yes, give it up for the one, the only, the PRAYYYINNNGGGG MANTTISSSS. (*crowd does jazz hands instead of clapping). The teeth are actually its tibial spines that it uses to grasp its unconsenting prey.


Here is the Praying Mantis cleaning its service weapon. Looks pretty innocent.


And because this audience does not like gore, we will just use a dummy prey to demonstrate how the praying mantis can swing it's praying front legs outwards to grasp its prey once it is within grasping distance.


One of the behaviors that you will commonly observe Praying Mantises indulge in, is climbing to the highest part of a plant to get a vantage point. Hence it was my mistake when I let one loose in my apartment. If only my co-workers could understand why I couldn't get any work done that day. Sigh!


Another fascinating behavior you can politely ask the Mantis to perform is to jump from one hand to another. Keep your other hand at a reasonable distance from the hand it is perched on. After a few mathematical calculations in its tiny brain, it will make the leap and succeed most of the time.

Video courtesy: Sirena Lao from SFBBO


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