So here's this immature praying mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata, perched on a narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis, in a Vacaville pollinator garden.

She's camouflaged quite well. She's as green and thin as the leaves.

Me: "Hey, Ms. Mantis, whatcha doin'?"

Ms. Mantis: "Just occupying a spot on this milkweed. Catching some sun, is all."

Me: "Hoping to catch a monarch, Ms. Mantis?"

Ms. Mantis: "No, no, of course not. I would never, ever, catch a monarch! You know me!"

Me: "I do know you.  Promise you won't nail a monarch?"

Ms. Mantis: "Sorry, I can't promise if I'm hungry. Now, go away, you're disrupting my choice of menu items."

Me: "How about a stink bug or a lygus bug?"

Ms. Mantis: "I don't take menu orders. What do you think I am? DoorDash? Go away!"

Me: "Hey, I see a katydid nymph over there!"

Ms. Mantis: "Where, where? How far?"

Me: (Pointing to a lower leaf) "Over there!"

With that, Ms. Mantis slipped off the blossom, never to be seen again.

Epilogue: The California scrub jays noisily nesting in the cherry laurel hedges may have snagged a Stagmomantis mantis meal.

They don't take orders, either.