Black Mantis in dreams
A patient, predatory insect — stillness so complete that the prey arrives on its own.
How black changes the reading
Black colour pulls the symbol toward the not-yet-known — depth, hiddenness, the part of the situation that has not yet come into the light. The dream is rarely warning you; it is showing you that there is more to the picture than the part you have been looking at.
The base reading of Mantis
A mantis in a dream is the dream's image of stillness used as a weapon. Mantises do not chase; they wait, fold their arms, and let other insects walk in. The dream brings the mantis when you are dealing with — or being — someone whose great move is to do nothing and let the situation deliver the result. A mantis still on a leaf is the dream telling you the patience is working. A mantis striking is the dream marking that the patient phase is over and a fast, self-contained move has occurred.