when manti attack

mantis, originally uploaded by seamonkeylifeboat.

Just before lunch we were standing in the courtyard and a big butterfly visited the lemon tree next to us but flew to the other side as I pointed it out. I feel like a dork here for always getting excited about plants and animals that no one else pays attention to. “Hey, an iguana! Look, a banana tree! Oh cool, the hawks here sit on the ground instead of in trees - they have different hunting and social patterns! Wow, a frog! I caught it! It peed on me!” I have no pretense of cool here in anyone’s eyes. Anyway, I slipped around the tree to see the butterfly again and saw it get nabbed by a preying mantis hanging upside down from a leaf, so I stayed to watch some of the battle. Later in the day a few butterfly wings littered the ground beneath a very fat green mantis.