Giant Praying Mantus...

I came across this large praying mantus while I was walking Rusty along the gravel road near our home. This one is much bigger than the small praying mantus I found on a flower earlier in the summer. It is the third large praying mantus that I have seen in recent years. The other two were seen in South Africa in 2010 and in Sierra Leone in 2011. They are pictured below, too.

Size perspective.

 Strange-looking praying mantus as seen at rural Appelsbosch, South Africa. This was in 2010, when the non-technical Mercy Ships crew were staying off-ship during shipyard in Durban, South Africa.

 Another large praying mantus seen sitting outside the Purser's office on the Africa Mercy, then docked in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in 2011.

A closer view of the Sierra Leone praying mantus.