Meet Mervina Mantis......

I love these beasties which, for someone who has a well developed aversion to spiders, is a little odd.

I spotted this heavily pregnant lady today just as I was about to go out.  She distracted me for about 30 minutes before I finally managed to tear myself away.

When I got back a short while later however, I went back to see if she was still around and sure enough....there she was!

Another 30 minutes of letting her roam freely over my hand and up my arm (which, when you're trying to take shots of her at the same time is no mean feat!This shot is taken of her at arms length sitting on my finger!!) and then I sent her packing into the garden to go hunt out some tasty morsel for tea.

I wonder if she'll be around again tomorrow?

Oh - and you may be wondering why the name?  I've always called any mantis I find in my garden Merv as in 'Merv the mantis' but, seeing as this one was clearly not a Merv, she became a Mervina :)

Oh - and check her out L-A-R-G-E!

There are a couple more shots of her here if you're interested