7 Praying Mantis Facts For Kids

The Praying Mantis is an insect that gets its name because of it elongated front legs which come together at any angle the resembles two hands in prayer. They have long heads that sit on long thoraxes. They are able to turn their heads a full 180 degrees in either direction which increases their field of vision quite a bit.

1. These are fascinating insects not only because of their appearance but also because of their behavior. They have two compound eyes and three regular eyes. The Praying Mantis is a predator. They are carnivores.

2. The Praying Mantis uses their front feet to snare their pray. Their front legs have barbs on them that help he Mantid to snare and hang on to their prey. They eat moths, ants, flies and other insects that cross their path. They are a rather ruthless insect. They even eat each other. They have been known to even kill small birds like Humming Birds when given the opportunity and when their size supports it.

3. The Praying Mantis bites their pray on the back of the neck paralyzing the prey so that they can eat them . They usually eat the head first so that the prey can not move and get away. One of the biggest predators of the Praying Mantis is the bat but it also has to watch out for birds, rodents and frogs.

4. When a female and a male mantis mates often the female will eat the male either during mating or right after mating. This does not seem to scare off other males from mating. The female lays 100s of eggs into an egg sack. When the eggs hatch the nymphs look exact replicas of the adults. Most insects go through a larvae stage but the mantis does not. They hatch like tiny replicas of the adults.

5. The female will die shortly after laying her eggs. The male does not live beyond a year.

6. There are over 1500 species of Praying Mantis. They are either brown or green and can change their color depending on their environment. They blend in perfectly with the plants that they live on so that they can hunt without being noticed. Their front legs move so quickly to snag their pray that it can be difficult if not impossible to see the movement with the naked eye.

7. They shed their exoskeleton when they grow. An adult mantis lives for less than a year.