I was out picking moringa pods this morning and was greeted with this, as Steve Irwin would say, glorious creature.  I ran in and grabbed my camera and was able to catch “her” doing her daily exercise.  I say her because the male is much smaller than the female.  If I had not been on my way to prayer I could have stayed and watched for hours.

Preying Mantis are related to grasshoppers and are very beneficial to the garden.  This is the first one I can remember seeing in my garden.