A praying mantis was caught on camera in Kamloops on Aug. 26, 2022.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED? Rochelle Collins
August 29, 2022 - 12:52 PM
A Kamloops resident came across a strange looking creature while getting her car serviced last week.
Rochelle Collins was at the Husky gas station on Friday, Aug. 26. when one of the mechanics working there spotted a praying mantis on the shop floor.
“I was born and raised here and I’ve never seen one of these before,” she said. “I was pretty shocked. I didn’t know we had them here.”
The mechanic scooped the mantis onto a tool and placed it on a table for Collins to look at.
She quickly took photos of the alien-like insect, gently moving the tool to get some different angles of it. She guessed it was a little over three inches long.
A praying mantis striking a pose in Kamloops on Aug. 26, 2022.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Rochelle Collins
“It stood quietly or made slow forward and back motions, it was really cool,” she said. “Then it struck a side pose.”
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Praying mantises are found throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa, and North America where they are considered introduced. Their name refers to the distinctive posture of their first pair of legs that resembles praying.
They feed on living and moving insects like grasshoppers, crickets and cockroaches.
A praying mantis was caught on camera in Kamloops on Aug. 26, 2022.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Rochelle Collins
Collins said since posting photos of the mantis on her social media people from the Kamloops area and south Okanagan have shared stories of their own sightings of the unique looking insect.
The mantis at the shop in Kamloops flew away.
A praying mantis was caught on camera in Kamloops on Aug. 26, 2022.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Rochelle Collins
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