Orthodera novaezealandiae
This species is found only in New Zealand. It has a bright blue-purple parch on the inside of its front knees. The front section of its body(behind the head) is broad(unlike the African praying mantis) It can eat 25 flies a day.( from Andrew Crowe – A mini guide to identification of New Zealand INSECTS)
This praying mantis had only one front leg but was still very quick to catch the fly.
http://beetlesinthebush.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/inaugural-one-shot-wednesday/
This is how it works:
”One-Shot Wednesday”! Ever photograph an insect and only get off a single shot? Not just one keeper from a series of photos, but only one single photo of the insect, like it or lump it! That’s what I’m talking about here. The subtext, of course, is that there was only that one chance to get everything right—exposure, focus, composition, lighting, etc. Obviously, it’s not my plan to show crappy photos as part of this meme, but rather that occasional instance where I only got off a single shot, and for the most part everything worked pretty well to produce a decent photograph. I would, of course, be more than happy to see this meme take off and spread throughout the insect blogging community, but if it doesn’t and it remains a BitB exclusive then that’s fine also.
scrapydo 