Praying Mantis Facts

Mantises Attack Their Prey At Lightning Speed

They stalk their prey and wait for the perfect moment to strike. They strike so quickly with their raptorial forelegs that most of us can’t even see their attack unless we use a slow-motion camera.

Praying Mantises Are Related to Cockroaches and Termites

Mantises, cockroaches and termites all descended from the same common ancestor. Entomologists who study insects often group them all under the Dictyoptera superorder.

Praying Mantises Survive Winter as Eggs in Cooler Regions

The female praying mantises lay their eggs in the fall and cover them with a foamlike compound that they excrete from their bodies. This keeps their eggs warm during the winter so that they can hatch in the spring.

Mantises Are Experts At Camouflage And Staying Hidden

They can molt and change color. Most mantises are green, but they can also be black, brown or white. They are experts at making their bodies look like leaves or flowers too.

Hungry Female Praying Mantises Occasionally Eat Their Partners

Unlucky male praying mantises sometimes get eaten by their partners. Sometimes a female will behead her partner before they’ve consummated their relationship. Scientists say that in some species up to 46% of males may be eaten by their partners.

Mantises Prefer Live Food

Pretty much as long as it is still moving they’ll eat it. They aren’t too picky about what they eat. They’ll eat beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, bees, butterflies, lizards, frogs and even small birds.

Praying Mantises Have Specialized Front Legs That They Use To Capture Prey

The front legs of praying mantises are called raptorial forelegs. They use their legs to first capture their prey and then hold their prey as they eat it. Some large mantises have been known to use their forelegs to capture and eat prey as large as birds.

Mantises May Be Predators But They’re Also Prey

Mantises prey on many animals, even birds, but they are preyed on by frogs, lizards, birds, spiders and even bats.

Praying Mantises Are Voracious Predators

Praying mantises are voracious, they will eat many types of invertebrates and even some vertebrates. They will eat many types of invertebrates like insects, worms, and caterpillars. And larger ones will even eat vertebrates like lizards, frogs and even birds.

Ancient People Thought Mantises Had Special Powers

Ancient civilizations like ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, and ancient Assyria, thought that mantises had supernatural powers. In fact, the word, mantis, comes from the ancient Greek word for prophet.

Praying Mantises Have Only One Ear

Unlike us, praying mantises have only one ear, and the strange thing is that their ear is located on their belly, just in front of their hind legs. With only one ear, they can’t tell where a sound is coming from, but their ear allows them to detect ultrasound. This is very important because bats like to eat mantises and they use ultrasound to find them. Mantises hear the ultrasound and take evasive action to avoid getting eaten by bats.

Mantises Mate For A Long Time

Some mantises mate for up to three hours. Since they mate for a long time, sometimes the female even gets hungry while mating and will even eat her partner before they are finished mating.