The "Unwanted" Relatives

   There is always that "crazy relative" in the family.  In mine, I cannot point the finger at anyone.  Perhaps, and most likely, that means that the weird one is me.  Out of all the labels that have been attached to me over the years, I prefer the one that my daughter tagged on me back when she was a young teenager.  She had to do a paper for school describing one of her parents and I was the oh-so-lucky target.  While most kids were giving the usual and expected glowing accounts of their mom or dad, Darling Daughter described me as eccentric and eclectic.  Hmmm? She meant it in a good way, though or at least she explained it as such.  I suppose she was (and is) correct in her description.  I brought her up well.  A lot of folks tell us we are alike in so many ways.  (I take it as a compliment!) Then there are those relatives which no one claims.  The embarrassing, black sheep of the family.  Most families can at least point the finger at one relative that has a record of doing things that are not quite up to par.

  This trend is also seen in the critter world.  I was drinking my first mug of coffee this morning when something sort of waltzed its way across the window screen.  Adjusting the glasses, I was happily surprised to see a Praying Mantis clinging to the screen.  Ahhh, good news!  That sucker could feast on all the gnats and mosquitoes it wanted!  Good job, Mantis!  I watched the insect for the rest of breakfast time.  It was great entertainment!  Sort of like a movie and dinner although not really as it was breakfast and an insect devouring other insects. (So I guess that analogy was about as wrong as they come!)  Anyway, watching the critter creep across the screen made me wonder if it was kin to any other bugs in the garden.  Most of the time, the Praying Mantis is considered a "good" bug contrary to things like Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers or Tomato Worms (which are fine as moths but not as caterpillars).  I decided that I really must research the Praying Mantis.  (Oh, how wonderful is the internet!)

  After looking on several different articles, I found that the Praying Mantis does, indeed, have a few relatives out there in the bug world!  Only, contrary to the "goodness" seen in the Praying Mantis, the relatives could possibly be deemed the black sheep.  Those rascals really are BAD!  Bad bugs!! Bad, bad bugs!  To my way of thinking, no one in their right mind could love the relatives of the Praying Mantis!  The lovely bug is kin to roaches (ick!) and termites (double ick!)!  Imagine that!  It just does not seem possible!  Entomologists have determined that all three have descended from the same ancestor!  They are all placed in the same order called Dictyoptera.  

  Since I discovered the disgusting family that the poor Praying Mantis has to endure, I figure that my own family should feel blessed that I am merely described as eccentric.  After all, it could be worse!  I could go around eating the house, causing disease and just generally being totally disgusting!