Carnivorous insect hitches ride to Stoke-on-Trent in shipping container

The RSPCA was contacted on Friday (10 March) after the carnivorous insect was found in a container which had come over from India. Credit: RSPCA

Workers at a JCB warehouse in Stoke-on-Trent found a surprise stowaway when a praying mantis was discovered hidden in a container from India.

The RSPCA was contacted on Friday (10 March) after the carnivorous insect was found in a container which had come over from India. Staff at the JCB logistics centre, in Lowlands Road, confined the four-inch creature in a box, which was picked up by RSPCA Animal Collection Officer Catherine Strawford.

The RSPCA was contacted on Friday (10 March) after the carnivorous insect was found in a container which had come over from India. Credit: RSPCA

The insect has now been taken to a specialist exotics centre in Stoke-on-Trent, where they will live out the rest of their life.

Catherine said: “It isn’t unusual for us to get calls about spiders coming over from abroad but it is rare for us to get called about a praying mantis. This particular one is very lucky as they have very delicate bodies, which has travelled 4,800 miles across the world!”