A relative of mine has been keeping a pet Cryptic Mantis (Sibylla prestiosa), which has just got to full adulthood, and I was fortunate to get some time to take some macro shots of it.

This mantis looks fairly dull from a distance, but up close it is interitically patterned.  I also find these creatures quite alien looking, and have this appearance of looking down on you, even though they are so small compared to us.

Hence after messing about taking the images I could not resist adding some text to one of them.

Here are some other images of this pretty insect.

The images were all taken with a Canon 5D mark IV, Canon 100 USM Macro lens, Canon 580ex Speedlite with Rayflash Ringflash Adapter