Sunday September 28, 2008 Home in the USA

Much to our disappointment, things did not work out for our return trip to Italy. The quest for the visa took too long and when I was presented with a better offer to return to my old company, I accepted. We had three glorious months in Italy and met some wonderful people whom we now call friends and made memories to last a lifetime. We are settling in at home with many chores to be done. One was a new line for our dog run that also serves a dual purpose as a clothesline. While relaxing one day we noticed a friendly visitor on one of our towels.




Our friend, a praying mantis, decided to stay around a few days and we left the towel on the line for her to bask on. You can tell the sex of the mantis by the number of thorax segments, the female has more. Also the female has a reputation of being around longer, since they sometimes devour their mates.

The mantis is named for its front legs which are together in a position that suggests prayer. They have triangular heads and some species can turn them as much as 300 degrees in search of prey. They are experts at camouflage, which is a tool used in the capturing their food. Their eyesight is excellent with two large compound eyes and three simple eyes located between them. They can see movement as far away as 60 feet.




The mantids are carnivores and their unfortunate recipients are moths, crickets, grasshoppers and flies. It is interesting that they are being sold in some locations for insect control.