This may seem insignificant, but I would like to report having seen a praying mantis in my garden. It was on a dahlia plant, and although I have only seen them in pictures, I recognised it immediately. It was about 7 cm in length, and the thorax was of a much lighter shade of green than the rest of the insect. I live in France, about 50 km south of Poitiers, in a predominantly rural area. Around us, the main crops are sunflowers, colza (rapeseed) wheat and sweet-corn. I see many different insects, but this is the first time I have seen anything like this, and wonder if perhaps the unusual weather conditions of late may have brought it further north than usual. I hope this may be of some use. Swordfish86700 (talk) 18:59, 1 September 2010 (UTC)