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Today on Animal Fact Files, we’re talking about praying mantises. You can subscribe for more facts on animals. Thank you to FrenchyplayMC for today’s suggestion! Praying mantis or preying mantis? Both names make sense for these arthropods, but ultimately they were originally named for their devotional stance. The front legs of a praying mantis, held in pious position, are excellent tools for preying on a praying mantis’s favorite food: living animals. Actually, praying mantises are picky about what they eat and pretty much only eat living insects. They’ve even been observed eating hummingbirds, lizards, frogs, and fish, too! Praying mantises are ambush predators, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. They use their large compound eyes to keep tabs on their surroundings as well as a 180 degree swiveling head to watch out for predators. Predators to praying mantises include birds, spiders, lizards, and bats. Praying mantises are able to hear the echolocation bats utilize to locate prey. Unlike most animals with two ears, praying mantises only have one, and it’s located on the underside of their body… between their legs. Hey, whatever works for them!

Another prey item for praying mantises includes other praying mantises, but this isn’t as widespread as old biology textbooks might make it out to be. It is true that female praying mantises sometimes consume their mate, however, it’s more of an exception as opposed to the rule it seems to have become. If you think about it, when a male is eaten by his mate, he becomes nourishment for the eggs developing inside of her, so really he’s just helping to ensure the success of his offspring. Speaking of which, female praying mantises lay hundred of eggs in a specialize eggsac that will encase the babies during the winter. Praying mantis adults usually die with the onset of winter, though some tropical living species may live longer. The babies usually emerge in spring, and they might eat one another at this time, but, again, that’s just helping to ensure some of them have energy to survive. Also, like, survival of the fittest, amiright?

Praying mantises can pretty much be found anywhere they can find food and shelter from predators. They’re mostly abundant in tropical areas, but they can live in temperate places, too. Believe it or not, mantises are considered in the scientific community to be part of the cockroach order which means they’re more closely related to the termites we talked about in our last arthropod episode than the similarly colored katydids we've discussed previously. Praying mantises are usually green or brown in color, but they can come in much more elaborate colors and shapes as well. They can grow to be six inches (15.24cm) long, and around the world there are more than 2,000 species.

In studies of praying mantises in ancient Egypt, Praying mantises have been found wrapped in linen, and they might have been called something like “dancers”, though there doesn’t seem to be much documentation of them in general writings. Still, they’re agile creatures, and their blink-of-an-eye movement for catching prey definitely showcases the grace and deadly, dancer-like accuracy these insects possess.

For more facts on praying mantises, check out the links in the description. Tell us what you think of praying mantises in the comments. Thank you for watching, and give a thumbs up for more Animal Fact Files!