The protagonist of today's post is Mantis religiosa, commonly known as the European mantis. I photographed two nymphs of different colors. One of them is green; the other is brown.
A nymph is a newly hatched or juvenile mantis that looks like a smaller, wingless version of an adult, completely developed insect.
Nymphs in these photographs aren't very small, but they still have plenty of room to grow before reaching adulthood.
It may seem at first sight that the green mantis is better camouflaged for the vegetation in spring, when these photographs were taken, but even if the vegetation is predominantly green, there are always brown stems, leaves, or other dried-out parts present, so both nymphs have a functional mimetic color.
Being well-hidden in the tall grass helps the mantis get close enough to the prey and avoid being caught by another predator.
Since even the biggest insects are quite small, every predator can become prey.
And that's it. The post ends here. As always on Hive, the photographs are my work. I used the Canon EOS 350D camera with the Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L IS MACRO lens and the Canon Macro Ring Lite MR-14 EXII to get these shots.