MANNY

Manny is my pet Preying Mantis from the Order Mantodea. He is the lone survivor of over one-hundered mantises that hatched from a foamy shell. I should have taken him (or is it a her?) to the Science Olympiad event this past Saturday, but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I brought his brothers and sisters that aggressively killed one another during the maturation process. They were displayed at Station #18. There were 20 stations total, so you can see I was still contemplating whether Manny would be on display. It was also nice listening to the elementary school kids arguing whether the insects at Station #18 were walking sticks or preying mantises. It did not matter that they were looking at a family massacre -- the ultimate sibling rivalry.

Manny voraciously eats flies, crickets, mosquitoes, and midges. I’m often seen running around my front and back yard with a butterfly net rustling him some grub. Manny is doing quite well in my kitchen. I took the following picture as proof; however, my neighbors still think I’m crazy.