The big facts page

148 mantis facts, all checked

Every fact on this site, in one place, each linked to its source. Figures that can change carry the date we checked them (31 Oct 2026). Where sources disagree we give every figure: see when sources disagree.

Mantises in general

1 Praying mantises get their name from the way they hold up their front legs, as if praying. The word mantis comes from the Greek for ‘prophet’. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)
2 Britannica gives the ancient Greek word μάντις as meaning ‘diviner’. Britannica: Mantis
3 The legs aren’t really praying, of course: they are held ready to grab anything that strays too close. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)
4 Because they eat so much, mantises are sometimes called ‘preying mantids’, but that spelling is a mistake. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)
5 Mantises are insects in their own order, called Mantodea. They were once grouped with grasshoppers and crickets. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)
6 Their closest relatives are the cockroaches and termites. Natural History Museum, London: Small orders collection (Mantodea)
7 The Amateur Entomologists’ Society says roughly 2,300 species have been described. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea) · checked 31 Oct 2026
8 The Natural History Museum, London, says there are over 2,500 known species. Natural History Museum, London: Small orders collection (Mantodea) · checked 31 Oct 2026
9 The Canadian Encyclopedia gives about 2,400 species worldwide, most of them in the tropics. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid · checked 31 Oct 2026
10 Britannica gives approximately 2,000 species. Britannica: Mantis · checked 31 Oct 2026
11 The Oxford museum’s insect guide gives 1,800 species worldwide. Oxford University Museum of Natural History: Mantodea · checked 31 Oct 2026
12 Most mantises live in tropical or subtropical places. Britannica: Mantis
13 Mantises are medium to large insects: the Amateur Entomologists’ Society gives 10 to 200 mm long. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)
14 The Oxford museum gives a body length of 8 to 150 mm. Oxford University Museum of Natural History: Mantodea
15 The Canadian Encyclopedia gives 1 to 15 cm. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid
16 Females are usually larger than males. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
17 Mantises usually live alone and may be territorial. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
18 Australian mantises are active both by day and by night. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)

Bodies and senses

19 A mantis has a triangular head that can turn easily to face different directions. Britannica: Mantis
20 It has two large compound eyes and three small extra eyes, called ocelli. Britannica: Mantis
21 The ocelli sit between the antennae and are used for detecting light. Britannica: Mantis
22 Because mantises eat almost nothing but insects, eyesight matters enormously to them, and it is unusually well developed. Britannica: Mantis
23 With a flexible neck, mantises are the only group of insects that can look over their shoulders. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid
24 The Chinese mantis can swivel its head 180 degrees. NC State Extension: Chinese praying mantid
25 Their heads often turn to follow anything that moves. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
26 The front legs are ‘raptorial’, built for seizing prey, with rows of spines on two of the leg segments. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)
27 The spiny legs close on prey rather like the blade of a penknife closing. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)
28 Mantises have powerful chewing mouthparts. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
29 Mantises that have wings have two pairs. At rest, the leathery front wings cover the clear hind wings, which fold like a hand fan. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
30 Australian mantises are weak fliers that usually fly in short bursts. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
31 Not all mantises can fly. Those that do are often drawn to lights at night. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)
32 In many species the females have no wings, or wings too small to use. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
33 Mantises that fly at night have an ear on the underside of the body that picks up ultrasound, so they can dodge bats hunting by echolocation. Natural History Museum, London: Small orders collection (Mantodea)
34 The Canadian Encyclopedia describes these hearing structures as sitting beneath the hind legs. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid
35 At the tip of the abdomen are two short ‘tails’ called cerci. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
36 To tell an adult male from a female, count the segments under the abdomen: males usually have eight and females six. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)

3D vision

37 Mantises have the first confirmed 3D (stereo) vision found in any animal without a backbone. Natural History Museum, London: Small orders collection (Mantodea)
38 Newcastle University scientists say the praying mantis is the only insect known to have stereo vision. Newcastle University, 8 February 2018: New 3D vision discovered in praying mantis
39 To test it, a team at Newcastle University made tiny 3D glasses for mantises and fixed them on with beeswax. Newcastle University, 7 January 2016: Tiny glasses confirm 3D vision in insects
40 Red light is hard for mantises to see, so instead of red and blue lenses their glasses had one blue lens and one green. Newcastle University, 7 January 2016: Tiny glasses confirm 3D vision in insects
41 In an ‘insect cinema’, the mantises ignored bugs shown in 2D but struck at bugs shown in 3D, floating in front of the screen. Newcastle University, 7 January 2016: Tiny glasses confirm 3D vision in insects
42 Mantis 3D vision was first shown in the 1980s by Samuel Rossel. Newcastle University, 7 January 2016: Tiny glasses confirm 3D vision in insects
43 In 2018 the team found mantis 3D vision works differently from ours: it looks for places where the picture is changing, not at the details. Newcastle University, 8 February 2018: New 3D vision discovered in praying mantis
44 The scientists think it answers one question: is there prey at the right distance to catch? Newcastle University, 8 February 2018: New 3D vision discovered in praying mantis
45 Because insect brains are so tiny, this simpler kind of 3D vision could be useful for low-power robots. Newcastle University, 8 February 2018: New 3D vision discovered in praying mantis
46 A Newcastle engineering student built an electronic mantis arm that copies the insect’s strike. Newcastle University, 8 February 2018: New 3D vision discovered in praying mantis

Hunting and defence

47 Most mantises are ambush predators: they wait for prey rather than chase it. Britannica: Mantis
48 They spend a lot of time keeping still with their front legs held out, waiting. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
49 Many species can run fast, especially those living on the ground, in deserts or on tree trunks. Britannica: Mantis
50 Mantises eat mostly insects, but have been known to eat small animals with backbones. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
51 Mantises will eat prey about their own size, and bigger species will take mice, lizards and frogs. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)
52 A 2017 study found mantises of 12 species catching small birds in the wild, in 13 countries on every continent except Antarctica. University of Basel study, reported by ScienceDaily (4 July 2017): Praying mantises hunt down birds worldwide
53 Most of the 147 cases were in the USA, often at hummingbird feeders, so most of the birds were hummingbirds. University of Basel study, reported by ScienceDaily (4 July 2017): Praying mantises hunt down birds worldwide
54 The Chinese mantis eats almost any animal it can overpower, including butterflies, crickets, flies, grasshoppers, moths and spiders. NC State Extension: Chinese praying mantid
55 Mantises are food for others too: larger birds, reptiles and insect-eating mammals eat Chinese mantises. NC State Extension: Chinese praying mantid
56 Mantises are drawn to lights at night and often sit nearby catching moths and other insects. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)
57 Mantises are experts at camouflage. Many look like sticks, twigs or leaves, their egg cases can look like seeds, and young ones often look like ants. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
58 Some are disguised as a dead leaf, a lichen or a brightly coloured flower. Britannica: Mantis
59 Most are green or brown. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
60 When disturbed, a mantis usually keeps still or slips out of sight. Some put on a threatening display, give off a nasty smell or flash warning colours. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
61 A frightened mantis may rear up and raise and rustle its wings. Britannica: Mantis
62 Some mantises look like flowers to lure in the butterflies that visit those flowers. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid
63 Some mantises copy ants or wasps. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid

The orchid mantis

64 The orchid mantis has four back legs widened into flat ‘petals’, so it looks remarkably like a white flower. O’Hanlon 2016, Current Biology quick guide: Orchid mantis
65 The flower look is strongest in young orchid mantises that haven’t grown wings yet. O’Hanlon 2016, Current Biology quick guide: Orchid mantis
66 Young orchid mantises may be white or pink, and blend in perfectly with orchid flowers. Natural History Museum, London: Small orders collection (Mantodea)
67 In field experiments, lone orchid mantises attracted pollinating insects even more often than real flowers did, and caught them. O’Hanlon, Holwell & Herberstein 2014, The American Naturalist (peer-reviewed, via PubMed): Pollinator deception in the orchid mantis
68 That 2014 study was the first experimental evidence for the idea, which had been discussed for more than a century. O’Hanlon, Holwell & Herberstein 2014, The American Naturalist (peer-reviewed, via PubMed): Pollinator deception in the orchid mantis
69 Despite the name, there’s no good evidence it copies an orchid, or any one particular flower: it looks like a general ‘flower’. O’Hanlon 2016, Current Biology quick guide: Orchid mantis
70 It is the only animal known to take on the look of a whole flower blossom. O’Hanlon 2016, Current Biology quick guide: Orchid mantis
71 Orchid mantises have been reported across Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Vietnam and southern China, but are rarely seen in the wild. O’Hanlon 2016, Current Biology quick guide: Orchid mantis

Life cycle

72 A female mantis lays her eggs in a mass called an ootheca. It is frothy when first laid and quickly hardens. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)
73 The froth hardens into a case a bit like polystyrene, glued to a twig, fence post or other support. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid
74 Most egg cases are fixed to plants, but some are stuck to rocks, or in deserts pushed into grooves in the sand. Britannica: Mantis
75 Britannica says a female lays from fewer than 10 to more than 300 eggs in a batch. Britannica: Mantis
76 Utah State University Extension gives 12 to 400 eggs per egg case. Utah State University Extension: Beneficial insects, mantids
77 For the Chinese mantis, NC State Extension gives 50 to 600 eggs. NC State Extension: Chinese praying mantid
78 The Amateur Entomologists’ Society says one egg case may produce 30 to 300 young, depending on the species. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantid caresheet
79 A female usually lays several egg cases, often about six. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantid caresheet
80 In cooler places the eggs spend the winter in the case and hatch in spring. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid
81 Utah State University Extension describes one generation a year: eggs laid in autumn hatch in spring, and the young are adults by late summer. Utah State University Extension: Beneficial insects, mantids
82 Newly hatched young hang from the egg case on a thread until their skin hardens. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantid caresheet
83 The young all come out at the same time. Britannica: Mantis
84 Mantises have no caterpillar or pupa stage. The young, called nymphs, look like small adults without wings. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantid caresheet
85 Young Chinese mantises moult six or seven times as they grow. NC State Extension: Chinese praying mantid
86 Older nymphs have little wing buds. NC State Extension: Chinese praying mantid
87 The wings appear only at the final moult. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)
88 A young mantis that loses a leg can grow it back, but only at its next moult. Adults with wings don’t moult again, so they can’t. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantid caresheet
89 Young mantises often eat each other. Utah State University Extension: Beneficial insects, mantids
90 The Amateur Entomologists’ Society gives an average lifespan of twelve months. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)
91 Its caresheet says mantises live for 12 to 18 months. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantid caresheet
92 Some species can lay a fertile egg case without mating. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantid caresheet
93 It’s often said that female mantises always eat their mates, but studies suggest this isn’t commonly seen in the wild. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)
94 The Canadian Encyclopedia says it is probably uncommon in the wild and more likely when females are hungry. Males approach slowly and freeze if the female moves. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid
95 Utah State University Extension describes females trying to eat the male before, during or after mating, and males approaching carefully. Utah State University Extension: Beneficial insects, mantids
96 Bringing an egg case indoors over winter is a bad idea: the warmth can make the young hatch early, when there is no food for them. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantid caresheet
97 NC State Extension warns the same: hatched indoors in winter, the hungry young soon start eating each other. NC State Extension: Chinese praying mantid
98 If you want to watch an egg case, the Amateur Entomologists’ Society suggests an unheated building such as a shed, so the young hatch at the right time. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantid caresheet

Where they live

99 Eighteen species live in southern and central Europe. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea) · checked 31 Oct 2026
100 None live wild in Great Britain. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea) · checked 31 Oct 2026
101 The Oxford museum’s insect guide puts it plainly: there are no praying mantises in the wild in Britain, and its UK species count is zero. Oxford University Museum of Natural History: Mantodea · checked 31 Oct 2026
102 So if you find one in Britain, the Oxford museum suggests asking whether it’s a pet. Oxford University Museum of Natural History: Mantodea
103 Australia has about 118 species, many of them in the tropics. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea) · checked 31 Oct 2026
104 In Australia they live on flowers, tree trunks and tall grasses, and some live on the ground. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
105 There are at least 20 species in the USA. Utah State University Extension: Beneficial insects, mantids · checked 31 Oct 2026
106 Only three species are found in Canada, and just one of them, the ground mantis, is native. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid · checked 31 Oct 2026
107 The European mantis, the Mediterranean mantis, the narrow-winged mantis and the Chinese mantis have all been introduced into North America. Britannica: Mantis
108 Typical European groups (genera) are Mantis, Ameles, Iris and Empusa. Britannica: Mantis
109 In the USA, mantises are found where winters are mild and there’s plenty to eat. Utah State University Extension: Beneficial insects, mantids

The species

110 The European mantis is the most widespread mantis in Europe. Britannica: Mantis
111 Adults are brown or green with a black spot on the front legs, and 50 to 65 mm long. Utah State University Extension: Beneficial insects, mantids
112 When it rears up, it shows black-ringed white spots on the inside of its front legs, a mark no other North American species has. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid
113 It arrived in New York State from Europe, unintentionally, in 1899. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid
114 It feeds actively by day and likes mixed vegetation. Utah State University Extension: Beneficial insects, mantids
115 The Chinese mantis is slender, brown or green, and about 7.6 cm (3 inches) long for males and about 11 cm (4⅜ inches) for females. NC State Extension: Chinese praying mantid
116 It is the largest mantis found in North America, at 7 to 10 cm. Britannica: Mantis
117 It was brought to eastern North America from China in 1896 to control insect pests. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid
118 Female Chinese mantises can’t fly. NC State Extension: Chinese praying mantid
119 Britannica calls the Chinese mantis Tenodera aridifolia sinensis. Britannica: Mantis
120 NC State Extension calls it Tenodera sinensis. NC State Extension: Chinese praying mantid
121 The Canadian Encyclopedia calls it Tenodera aridifolia. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid
122 The Carolina mantis is widespread in North America. Britannica: Mantis
123 Adults are 48 to 57 mm long and dusty brown, grey or green, found in meadows, gardens, herbs and low shrubs. Utah State University Extension: Beneficial insects, mantids
124 The ground mantis is a small species from western North America, and the only mantis native to Canada. Britannica: Mantis
125 It ranges from Mexico north to British Columbia; in Canada it lives only in the dry grasslands of the southern Okanagan Valley. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid
126 Males have wings; females have small wings that don’t work. Its mottled brown colour looks like a twig. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid
127 The Mediterranean mantis (Iris oratoria) is a European species that has been introduced into North America. Britannica: Mantis
128 Like other mantises, the orchid mantis (Hymenopus coronatus) grabs its prey with its front legs and will eat many kinds of prey. O’Hanlon 2016, Current Biology quick guide: Orchid mantis
129 The garden mantid is probably the most common mantis seen in Sydney. It lives in suburban gardens and is found throughout Australia. Australian Museum: Garden Mantid
130 It is about 4 cm long, blue-green, with a bright blue to purple spot on the inside of its front legs. Australian Museum: Garden Mantid
131 Its egg case is about 2 cm long, hard and woody, and often stuck to fences, buildings, fly screens or plants. Australian Museum: Garden Mantid
132 It eats small insects, including aphids. Australian Museum: Garden Mantid
133 The purple-winged mantid is 8 to 9 cm long and common in Sydney gardens. It is found throughout Australia. Australian Museum: Purple-winged Mantid
134 It waits among native flowering plants and feeds mainly on bees and flies. Australian Museum: Purple-winged Mantid
135 About 80% of Australian mantises belong to one family, the Mantidae. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea) · checked 31 Oct 2026
136 The Australian Museum’s garden mantid page puts the same family at almost 75% of Australian species. Australian Museum: Garden Mantid · checked 31 Oct 2026

Mantis or not?

137 Mantis flies also have grabbing front legs, but they always have clear wings held like a tent over the body. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
138 Stick insects look a bit like mantises, but their front legs are never built for grabbing, and their heads are often rectangular. Australian Museum: Praying mantises (Order Mantodea)
139 Grasshoppers and crickets are only distant relatives. Amateur Entomologists’ Society: Praying Mantids (Order Mantodea)
140 Cockroaches are close relatives of mantises, but not mantises. Natural History Museum, London: Small orders collection (Mantodea)
141 Strictly, ‘mantis’ is the name of one genus, Mantis; ‘mantid’ covers the whole group. Utah State University Extension: Beneficial insects, mantids
142 Most entomologists prefer to keep the word mantis for members of the genus Mantis. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid

Mantises and people

143 Mantis egg cases are sold for garden pest control, but mantises aren’t very good at it: they eat almost anything, including pollinators and other helpful insects. Utah State University Extension: Beneficial insects, mantids
144 The author of the bird study urged great caution about releasing mantises for pest control. University of Basel study, reported by ScienceDaily (4 July 2017): Praying mantises hunt down birds worldwide
145 Their name and pose have given them pious names in many languages, such as Gottesanbeterin in German and prie-Dieu in French. Britannica: Mantis
146 Old superstitions said a mantis’s spit could blind people, or that a mantis could kill a horse if eaten. Britannica lists these as superstitions. Britannica: Mantis
147 Gardeners sometimes mistake egg cases for pests. Utah State University Extension: Beneficial insects, mantids
148 Many cultures have used mantises as symbols in art, myth and books. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Mantid