From Madagascar with love. Praying mantis. 

Today my son Zeno found a beautiful Praying mantis on a shrub. He continued searching for new species and found 3 different ones in the garden. They are called Tsopéko or Famakiloha in Malagasy language, scientifically named Phyllocrania species. They are small as compared to the giant brown Praying mantis I observed in December 1992 in the rain forest of Andasibe. These had the  size of a pencil and flew  to new feeding areas as an Apache war helicopter. They captured locusts and other insects with their long arms. I’ll never forget the sound of the crushed chitine skin of the victims – like eating paprika crisps.