@Mom2BDec2010 A praying mantis can spit? I’ve never seen that. My kids have caught them and kept them (briefly) as pets, but we’ve never seen one spit. They can bite if they feel threatened. Grasshoppers, on the other hand, make this dark brown “spit” when the kids catch them. It stains their hands and looks disgusting.
We were at a local park yesterday and kept seeing these strange, large bugs flying around. My son was able to catch one, and it turned out to be a mantis. We’d never seen them flying around like that. One flew up and landed on my leg. They look like fairies when they’re flying. They are also great to keep in your garden because they will eat anything they can catch. We usually order an mantis egg case and, when it hatches, let the babies go in our garden. They are much cooler than grasshoppers!