Praying Mantis

Tags:

Praying Mantis

Praying Mantis

Mantises that are green blend in with leaves and plants. They can be difficult to spot. By Alvesgaspar
Image Source

A mantis is an insect with a triangle-shaped head, a long body, and powerful front legs that it uses to grab other insects so it can eat them. Mantises can turn their heads almost all the way around to see what is behind them without moving their bodies.

Mantises hunt by staying very still in one place and waiting for their food to come to them. While it waits, a mantis holds its front legs in the air so it is ready to move quickly when an insect passes by. One common species of mantis is called the Praying Mantis because people think the mantis looks like it is praying when it has its front legs lifted off the ground.

Mantises live mainly in warm and tropical areas, but they can be found in cooler climates as well. The Praying Mantis was brought from Europe to North America around the year 1900, and it now lives in many parts of the United States and Canada.

Additional Images:

Praying Mantis

Praying mantises have strong front legs that they use to grab and hold their food, which is usually other insects. By Ellen Root

Praying Mantis

Praying mantises have long bodies and small flat triangle-shaped heads. By D. Gordon E. Robertson
Image Source

Additional Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_religiosa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praying_mantis
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/praying-mantis/
http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/sites/kids/NGS/wpf/printcreature/praying-mantid.html

References

The above links plus:

Borror, Donald J. and Richard E. White. A Field Guide to Insects: America north of Mexico. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1970. Pp. 86-87

Love, Carrie and Caroline Stamps, ed. Animals: A Children’s Encyclopedia. New York: DK Publishing, 2008. Pp. 254-255.

 

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.