Page 57 - Allah's Artistry in Colour

Mantises are among the most common would be easy to spot. Most species take
predators in the forests and in the savan- great care to find suitable environments in
nahs of the hottest regions of the globe. The which to lie in wait for their prey. 28 It is cer-
entire body structure of a mantis is designed tainly not possible for this creature to have
for predation. The nymph mantis, seen be- devised such a system on its own. He Who
low, of the tropical forests of South America inspires all the creatures with how they are
is almost identical to the dry leaves of the supposed to act is Allah, the Lord of the en-
fern. If it were to rest on a green leaf, it tire universe.

In the top left photograph is a mantis, which is almost invisible among the pink
flowers. As opposed to the majority of other mantises, whose bodies have a long
and narrow first segment or prothorax, in this Costa Rican species (the large pho-
tograph) this segment has a different design that makes it similar to the leaves on
which the mantis lives.