https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/science/praying-mantis-eating-birds.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
A very article on praying mantises. The part where it notes they seem to be unable to help themselves when presented with something they can jump onto is something I can attest to. I have many, many photos of mantises sitting perched on my lenses because they were the right distance away.
Interestingly, the majority of the photos in the article are of subadult mantises. It's easy to spot because of the distinct lack of wings. While they're a few species without wings or with very short wings they are uncommon. Wings only come with the final shed to adulthood.