An Unexpected Visitor

A low-pitched humming filled my room, and an audible "Twack!" punctuated the silence.

I looked up from my work, and turned around to find myself face to face with... a HUGE 10+ cm long praying mantis! The fella had apparently flown in through my window, and landed on my bed. Talk about knowing how to make itself feel at home, heh :)

Immediately, I grabbed my camera and started snapping numerous photos of it, as it scrambled up the headboard and watched me from there. Absently wondering how to get it off my bed, I went to search for a container to catch it with. Several years ago, I had also caught a large stick insect by picking it up and holding it by its mid section (wanting to bring it home to rear as a pet, before realising that I didn't actually have anything large enough to keep it in. Silly me :) and released it in a park several streets away.

However, I couldn't catch the praying mantis in the same way, as they've been known to turn around and bite or claw. The fella didn't appear to be aggressive, but I didn't want to provoke it either... those pincer -like front legs looked quite sharp and formidable.

When I returned, it had flown from my bed to the adjacent wall, close to the ceiling. At least that solved one problem :) But it was now too high for me to reach. So, I went back to my desk, updated friends with more news of my 'unexpected visitor', and was inspired by them to nickname the fella 'Lucky' :) A search on Google revealed that 'Lucky' was a Giant Asian praying mantis (Hierodula membranacea), and judging from its size, a full-grown adult too.

Captivated, I continued watching from my desk for almost an hour, as it walked to and fro across the wall, grooming itself occasionally. And it turned to watch me too, staring intently with an inquisitive gaze, its expression reminding me almost of a curious dog at times.

However, at 4 am, I decided to finally remove 'Lucky' from the wall. It was late, but didn't want to risk hurting it or getting bitten if it decided to fly back onto the bed while I was asleep. So, I took a broom, gently coaxed 'Lucky' to climb on, carried it out the window, and let it scuttle onto the wall outside. And silently whispered, "Go forth and multiply," before it turned the corner and disappeared :)

In the past few months, quite a number of critters have entered my room, including the usual moths, beetles, bees, as well as lacewings, geckos (house lizards), and even a bird. But this was by far the most interesting 'guest', a beautiful and fascinating creature to watch. I guess it's one of the things about living near a nature reserve :) My windows are still open, hopefully he/she will come visit again some time :)


All things wise and wonderful,
All creatures great and small,
All things bright and beautiful,
The Lord God made them all.