The European Mantis is a fairly large, green, brown, yellow or sometimes black colored praying mantis.
Males (4.5 cm) are considerably smaller and slimmer than the females (7.5 cm).
The male has antennae that are one third of its body length.
The female has relatively short antennae.
Both sexes have wings.
In general, the European Mantis rarely flies but the male sometimes flies when looking for a female.

Praying Mantises (Mantodea) are distributed worldwide, but are mainly found in warm regions.
About 1800 species are known with only 12 species in southern Europe.

During my walk just outside the B&B where we were staying, I was suddenly surprised to find this female praying mantis on my leg (4th & 5th photo).
It immediately brought to mind the time I was walking in a national park in Portugal in 2021 and suddenly found the same species of praying mantis on my leg (see here).
You would almost say that it seems as if this is some kind of habit of this species.

Bosco Romanazzi-Carducci, San Pietro Piturno, Putignano area, Bari, Puglia, 1 October 2024