well the guy was honest. He told me that the collector had given it to him as a "mantis" so that's what they called it. I clued in that it wasn't a mantis because the claw that it had (maybe it was missing the other one?) was overly relatively large and was opposable like a crabs. Also you almost never find a mantis of that white or that small. It was built more like a shrimp whereas mantids (stomatopods properly) are thicker and more robust.
by the way if you were worried about glass breaking only the large adults of the largest species like a peacock or G. chiragra are even capable of it. as for your skull crackin under the unwavering force of a frying pan wielded by a wife... well i can't help ya there.
|