Praying Mantis

Praying mantises can get be pretty big in size. In fact they can grow to be as big as a small bird! They got their name from the position they hold their front legs, in the way you would if your were praying. When they do this they are actually in a hunting pose. A fascinating fact about them is that they can turn their head farther than many other insects. Praying mantises predators include types of bats. They listen for their predators using a ear located on their thorax. To try to get away they will use the wings on their back to fly away from the predator. To change the subject, praying mantises feast upon insects like moths, crickets and flies.  Sometimes they will also make a meal of lizards and other bigger prey. At times, praying mantises will fight each other. They will fight until the stronger insect wins.  Fighting mantises will spray a horrible smelling liquid from their mouths, sticking to the opponent petrifying them. Eventually the insect dies from hunger. In the fall months, females lay up to 400 eggs in an egg sac called a ootheca. The baby mantises look like the adults only smaller and without wings. They are called nymphs.