Little mantis

A small mantis climbs on a blade of grass in field near our home in rural Douglas County near Elkton, Ore., on Friday, July 20, 2012.  In the United States, the insects are known as praying mantises due to their typical prayer-like stance. Mantises are exclusively predatory and mainly feed on other insects, but some larger mantis species have been known to prey upon frogs, birds, snakes, fish and even rodents.