This remarkable creature is commonly known as a LONG-NECKED PRAYING MANTIS and it originates from the rainforests of Malaysia.  Like all praying mantids it has excellent eyesight which it uses to track its prey before striking at it with its strong front legs!

You can see from the pictures below where the common name of 'long-necked' comes from as, even though it is not technically a 'neck', this species has a particularly long thorax (the middle body section) when compared to other species of mantis.  The picture directly below shows some of the spines which these animals have on their front legs, these are used both to catch their flying insect prey and to prevent it from escaping.

When I first bought these mantids back in July 2008 they were very small as you can see below!