Backyard visitor. The color of it's back is nearly identical to the fallen leaves from my plum tree, do these things change colors to blend in with their surroundings?
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Nice picture, PB. In a nutshell, a mantis can slowly change colors, from green to brown and brown to green. They can also turn brown after molting. They spend so much of their time on leaves and vines, mostly greens on fresh plants and produce and and browns, to blend in with a drying, darker leaf, etc. They don't change quickly like a chameleon, it takes them a little while to blend in. Very cool creatures, and I've yet to see one in my neck of the woods. I set out some mantis egg cases but both of them failed to produce any baby mantises.
