revretch:

Seeing lots of people tagging this mantis, but it’s a stick insect! Specifically, a children’s stick insect. (Yes, that’s the name.) Best way to tell is by looking at the eyes–mantises always have fairly big eyes that face forward, but on stick insects they’re pretty small and firmly on the sides! Definitely the difference between a carnivore and an herbivore. Also, you’ll notice a glaring lack of the signature hooked mantis claws.

Despite how similar they look, they’re not that closely related. In fact, a mantis’s closest relative is the roach!