My 5 yr old and I saw a beautiful white Praying Mantis that stayed white all the time. How rare is this?

Question

My daughter and I saw this white praying mantis in our back yard and it didn't change colors no matter what color it happened to be on. We captured it for a few hours to see if it would change colors but it stayed albino. We set it free and I have since wondered if it was rare not. By the way, a few years ago, I was walking into my house and right at the door step there was a spider (looked like a grass spider) that was the size of my hand with 1st and 2nd knuckles closed under. Almost 5" in diameter, NO EXAGGERATION! I tried to kill it with a broom and when I did, I saw a balled up dead spider that looked very small (the size of a quarter). I thought it looked to small. Sure enough, it was to small. I looked over and the giant spider was still there. I killed the wrong spider that must have been right there by the big one. I finally smashed the big spider with the broom, but afterward I kind of wished I had caught it. I wasn't to comfortable with trying to catch it though.

Answer 1

Wow, never heard of that before!

Must be rare, and quite a sight!

Answer 2

Well, albinoism isn't quite so rare in the animal kingdom, but I have never heard of albino insects before. That must have been quite a sight.

Answer 3

It might have been an orchid praying mantis. They are very beautiful and they come in colours such as white and pink. I don't think these are very rare but they are quite expensive in insect pet shops. Praying mantis' don't change colour - they stay one colour all the time.

Answer 4

http://www.insectimages.org/

http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740

http://greennature.com/article1899.html

http://www.einsteins-emporium.com/life/a...

http://www.whatsthatbug.com/