'The Deadly Mantis' (1957)

As an entomophobic of the first order, those photos gave me the shakes. I don't recall The Deadly Mantis well, but if memory serves, it was among that crop of films employing patently phony creatures (like Them), so I had no problem watching, uh, them.

I will say this about mantises: for insects, they display an unusual amount of personality. Although since moving from California to the Inland Northwest 10 years ago, I've become acquainted with some little critters no more than 3/8 of an inch in length called boxelder bugs, which proliferate in the warm months and are the most docile of insects; so much so that they're almost endearing. In spite of my phobia, I won't kill any six-or-eight-legged creature I find in the house, preferring to trap them in a plastic cup and escort them outside for release. Those boxelders are so cooperative that when you see one walking across the floor or up a wall, I just put the cup in front of them and they walk right in; I don't even have to cover the cup to keep them from escaping as I head for the door, as is necessary with other buggy invaders.

If they happened to be the size of a mantis, however, I confess I'd feel entirely different about them. Thanks goodness for small favors (and smaller bugs).