As a young child my grandmother told me not to pick up a praying mantis because it would spit in your eye and you would go blind. I am 38 years old and some students of mine brought in a praying mantis one day after recess and I just about lost my mind.
A childhood belief about creepy crawlies
others believed things like this
- As a child I thought that if you killed a praying mantis, you had to pay God $50.00.— stevie p
- I used to think that the praying mantis was related to the katydid!Anon
- I also used to think if you stared at a mantis you would be paralyzed forever.
— inma d - I once for some reason thought a Mantis was a bird, instead of a bug...— Laurie J.
- When I was a kid I thought praying mantises were made out of grass— Landon
- My Dad told me that Soy Sauce was made of grasshopper spit! I didn't eat it for YEARS!— TawnyKat