Little Critters

We've had a couple unusual little critters around our house this summer. We've had several praying mantises or "walking sticks" and we saw a katydid the other day but I didn't get a picture of it. Below are pictures of the praying mantis we saw most recently. I need to read more about these little creatures. I wonder if we are seeing the same praying mantis over and over or if we see a new one each time. I suppose I won't really know for sure, but I could read up on it to learn more.

N sure likes looking at him/her. Look at how big his (since our house is predominately male, we tend call almost everything of unknown gender a boy) eyes are. This mantis will let you get really close to it and it will look you square in the eyes. He rocks back and forth the closer you get. According to Wikepedia, "The repetitive swaying movements may be most important in allowing the insects to discriminate objects from the background by their relative movement, a visual mechanism typical of simpler animals. Rocking movements by these generally sedentary insects may replace flying or running as a source of relative motion of objects in the visual field." Apparently these little critters can be quite the fighters when it comes to getting food. If you read more about it on wikepedia you might have the same thought I did. They should be called preying mantis instead of praying mantis.