Wikipedia has an article on the Praying Mantis:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis
Recently I found an green adult praying mantis at night. I took him to my room and was entertained by him throughout the evening, and then let him go.
I've always loved these creatures ever since I was a child.
Once I put a cocoon in a jar and saw baby praying mantises hatch from it.
Hundreds of babies emerged.
The eyes do not have pupils. They have psuedo-pupils (clusters of sensitive photoreceptors).
"In the compound eye of invertebrates such as insects and crustaceans, the pseudopupil appears as a dark spot which moves across the eye as the animal is rotated. This occurs because the ommatidia which one observes "head-on" (along their optical axes) absorb the incident light, while those to one side reflect it. The pseudopupil therefore reveals which ommatidia are aligned with the axis along which the observer is viewing."
Another interesting fact from Wikipedia:
"All S. Californicas have sensors near their legs that allow the praying mantis to lose its head and still function. This is good if the head is devoured during mating."
The praying mantis can remain motionless for an indefinite period. This ability helps them blend with their environment becoming invisible to predators.
Martial art forms in China have adopted specific movements of the mantis into their practices.
When I was a teenager I had an odd dream:
I drempt I went into my sister's bedroom and beheld that the walls were covered with praying mantises--living, yet motionless!
