Kamakiri
螳螂 (カマキリ)・かまきり・kamakiri
Praying mantis. Kamakiri are predatory insects with large, folded scythe like forelegs that they use to catch their prey. They tend to blend in with their environment waiting for prey. In most of Japan they live for a couple of months during summer molding several times. The female mantis creates a capsule like egg case (ootheca) that contains hundreds of small mantis eggs that hatch the next spring.