Check out this Praying Mantis Kristen found during our afternoon hike through Garden Of The Gods. It was massive and probably the biggest bug I've ever seen in real life, and that includes peoples pet tarantulas. It was at least 3 inches long! I honestly had no clue that Colorado grew them that big so we felt super blessed that we got to check it out and take some photos.
When we got home Kristen got on the computer and did a little research, and we think that this is a female European Mantid. We think it's a female based on the info we found that said females are usually larger with more girth. We also learned that large Praying Mantis are capable of catching and eating Humminbirds! They also have been known from time to time to decapitate and eat the smaller male Mantis during mating...
The one we spotted on our hike seemed very passive but definitely moved with a chilling purpose when it decided it had enough of us flashing it with the camera, and thankfully Kristen decided to bring our camera so we can share the experience. I tell a lot of potentially unbelievable nature stories so it's nice to finally have a camera available to capture evidence. Granted this isn't really flyfishing related, but you never know a big Mantis might be confused for a mutant grasshopper in one of our local lakes or streams and get munched. I bet it's happened! Either way I think most of us as anglers find bugs interesting and this is one big bug!
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