We found this large Praying Mantis, about 10-11cm, perched on a window frame. They are fearless; this one let my camera get less than a foot (30cm) away, and did nothing more than cock her head a little.The species in Ohio, where I lived from age 12 to 18, is all green, wings and everything. I caught one about this size at age 12, attached a string to her elongated thorax and took her home. She was good at catching flies, so I tied the string to my bedpost for the night. Hearing a fly in the room after dark assures I won't sleep.
She didn't do much, there were no flies this night, and I did fall asleep. But sometime later I awoke and sat up. This startled her enough that she took off flying, hit the end of the string, and came zooming back right into my face! There was just enough moonlight for me to glimpse her coming just before she banged into my forehead (I think she was aiming for my hair but was weighed down by the string).
That scared me thoroughly awake! You ain't seen anything until you've seen an adult mantis with wings and clawed "arms" outspread flying right into your face. I took her outside, untied the string and let her go. Even a five-gram insect is too wild a pet to keep indoors.
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