More mantises!

This is not a bug!  It’s the skin of a bug! 

As they grow, mantises shed their skin every couple of weeks!  It’s true!  And the skin left over is a cool artifact all by itself!  It’s always surprisingly whole for some reason.  We keep our dead mantis-skins in a special little container so we can look back at their growth progress and sigh and reminisce about what they were like when they were babies.  It’s just like marking your child’s growth spurts in their bedroom doorjamb.  They — they grow so fast — (sniff) —

Meanwhile, here’s the little guy who just shed his skin!  He’s feeling frisky and full of beans!  Or cricket, anyway.  Look how interested he is!  He’s ready to greet the world!  I’m going to call him Bucky.  Hey Bucky, you ready to greet the world?  Bucky, world; world, Bucky!

Uh-oh!  Bucky hears a noise!  Is it a burglar?  Is it terrorists?  No, it’s just the paper boy, Bucky!  Calm down, boy!  Bucky feels very protective toward me, I can tell.  My hand is his territory and he’s going to defend it from anything that comes his way (provided it’s an insect smaller than himself).  I’m going to call him Guard Mantis Bucky!

Bucky’s decided the coast is clear.  Look, he’s giving me the “thumbs up” sign!  He thinks he’s people!  How could you not fall in love with that face?  Bucky’s going to be a movie star!  You’re okay in my book, Bucky!