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Praying Mantis

Image source: Buglogical.com

I love bugs. All bugs. Creepy crawly spiders (yes, I’m calling arachnids bugs for the time being), annoying mosquitoes, destructive termites, stinging wasps, even the terrifyingly fascinating bot flies of Central and South America (they lay eggs under your skin and the larva hatch, their fat wormy bodies bursting forth like the Aliens in Alien.) I’ve never been particularly squeamish and I find the little creatures fascinating. There are so many insect species—more than any other group of animals on earth—and they’re startling diversity is matched by their startlingly clever survival mechanisms. Some of them are intensely social, like bees and ants, while others are brutal loners, like the praying mantis or black widow. They live in all but the most severe climates. They pollinate our flowers, provide us with delicious foods (like that honey in your tea), and feed a dizzying array of other animals.