Native..........

.......to New Zealand
 
This very special Praying Mantis is Native to NZ. Sadly, it is being threatened by the accidentally introduced South African or Springbok Mantis.
 
The native Mantis is always green and it has blue spots on its forearms.
The South African Mantis can be green to yellow to brown. They have a thin neck and NO blue dots on their arms.
 
This LINK will take you to a South African Mantis I blipped recently.
It is very easy to see the difference when compared to the extra photos I have included today. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a clear photo of the blue dot, although a very tiny amount is visible in the first extra photo.
These were all taken outside in the garden – the white backdrop was provided curtsey of our house wall.
 
Thank you for the lovely comments, stars and hearts for yesterday’s very very tiny Bird’s Nest Fungi - I find these absolutely fascinating.