Praying mantids are carnivorous, winged insects, best known for the motionless, prayer-like pose they assume while hunting their next meal.. There are more than two thousand species of mantids.

 Voracious predators, mantises can turn their heads 180 degrees and see up to sixty feet away with large compound eyes. Common mantises can be brown or green in color.  This serves as camouflage for the mantises and also attracts their insect prey .

One generation develops each season. Females lay eggs in a large clusters , in a frothy, gummy substance glued to trees & plant stems .

Over wintering occurs in the egg stage in this case. Tiny nymphs emerge from the egg mass in the spring or early summer.

The mantis is the only predator which feeds at night on moths

Most moths are active only after darkness

And the only predator fast enough to catch mosquitoes and flies.

Tips

Nymphs tend to become cannibalistic and require separation or isolation in the later stages.

Adults will mate readily in captivity.

Insects and Gardens: In Pursuit of a Garden Ecology