Photo of the Day 26 December 2007


Stick Mantid, Cameroon, 2006
Photograph by Mark Moffett
Most of the roughly 1,800 species of mantids—often called praying mantises—spend their time sitting and waiting, seemingly at prayer. These highly skilled hunters and masters of disguise have fascinated humans for thousands of years; the ancient Greeks first used the term mantis, meaning "prophet."