Praying Mantis

“There’s a Praying Mantis in the tree!” We were in the yard of Georgie’s pre-school. It borders on the forest of Lullwater Park and in one corner there is an enormous tree. Some of the children were jumping and yelling and pointing up at a little bug on the trunk of the tree. Georgie and I went over to check it out. About ten feet up, a good sized green grasshopper-like bug was slowly making his way up the trunk. One of the kids whipped a plastic shovel at it, but missed by a mile. “Looks more like a katydid”, I said. I had just learned about crickets, cicadas and katydids on a recent visit to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. Basically, they’re all crickets. “What’s a kay-tee-did?”, the shovel-hucker said. I tried to tell him about the world of crickets but he quickly grew disinterested. I don't care about any of that, I just want to kill it. Meanwhile, Mr. Greenlegs was getting out of harms way. I decided it was a katydid, like the one we had on our front door a while back. Or maybe a Cicada. Praying Mantis!

A few days later, I was walking across the parking lot of the grocery store. I felt like I might melt. (The Kroger parking lot has got to be the hottest place here) I spotted a little green leaf in my path. I was about to step on it but changed my mind. There was something funny about the way it was upright and not flat to the ground. I tried to avoid it at the last minute but it caught my sandal and went sailing a few feet away. I bent over to look at it. I was an insect, a stick bug or something. It seemed no worse for wear after his rude introduction to my foot. I took a closer look. It was a Praying Mantis.