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There are approximately 2000 species of Praying Mantids in existence around the world. They are some of the most ferocious predators in the insect world. Some species of Mantid (also sometimes called Mantis) grow to about six inches in length. As odd and unbelievable as it might seem, the largest of these have been known to sometimes catch, kill and eat small rodents, birds, and snakes.

a close-up photo of a face of a Praying Mantis
Mantis #5968
The face of a Praying Mantis. 		a close-up picture of a Praying Mantis face
Praying Mantis #5965
A Mantis grooming itself. 		a close-up picture of a Praying Mantis cleaning its front leg
Mantis Picture #5959
A Mantis cleaning its front leg.
a macro photo of a Praying Mantis with legs in the praying position
Praying Mantis #4593
A Mantis in praying position. 		a close-up picture of a Mantis praying
Praying Mantis #5975
A Mantis posing for a photo.
photo of a Praying Mantis' Face
Praying Mantis #5986
Another in the Praying Mantis series of photos.
Praying Mantises are also often kept as pets in small terrariums. Some pet stores sell the "ootheca" - that is, the egg cases from which mantids hatch. These egg cases can hatch anywhere from about a dozen to several hundred mantids.

Picture of a Praying Mantis grooming
Praying Mantis #5970
A Chinese Mantis cleaning its front leg. 		a close-up picture of a Praying Mantis showing its tongue
Praying Mantis #5987
The profile of a face of a mantis. 		a picture showing the eye colors of a Praying Mantis
Praying Mantis #5988
A picture showing the details of the mouth of a mantis.
photo showing a Praying Mantis cleaning the spikes on its leg
Praying Mantis #5974
Picture of a mantis tongue cleaning the spines on its leg. 		photo showing the long front legs of a Praying Mantis
Praying Mantis #5980
The long front legs of a mantis. 		a Praying Mantis posing for a photo
Praying Mantis #5978
Mantises make excellent pets. This one is posing for a photo.
As pets, Praying Mantises are quite interesting. They become accustomed to being with and being handled by humans and seem quite content to perch in one's palm or on one's shoulder. Some of their behaviors are akin to more conventional pets. For instance, they clean their legs and feet much like a cat does. They'll lick their legs and then sometimes rub them against their head.

photo showing the dark eyes typical of a Praying Mantis at night
Praying Mantis #5969
In the dark, mantis' eyes become entirely black. This one is just beginning to recover its daylight eye color.
a photo of a brown male mantis mating with a green female
Mantises Mating #2078
The male mantis is typically much smaller than the female, as this photo of a brown male mantis mating with a green female mantis shows.
picture of the beady eyes of a Praying Mantis staring into the camera
Praying Mantis #2
Wild mantises often show no fear of humans. This one seemed captivated by the camera.
photo of a Praying Mantis eating a Katydid
Mantis and Katydid #1947
A mantis can catch and eat prey that is considerably larger than themselves. This one has caught and is eating a Katydid. 		a close-up picture of a brown Mantis
Brown Mantis #1865
Picture of a young, brown Praying Mantis. 		picture of a green Praying Mantis
Praying Mantis #6007
Picture showing the mouth parts of a Praying Mantis.
Praying Mantises are welcome insects in most flower gardens because they are effective predators - feeding on other insects that are garden pests. Once born, the mantids are small versions of adults and begin hunting and preying on other insects immediately. As they grow, they undergo an "incomplete metamorphosis". That is, they do not go through a pupae or larval stage. However, they do periodically shed their shell-like skin, allowing them to grow larger.

a chinese mantis eating a Katydid
Mantis Eating Katydid #1954



a macro photo of a Praying Mantis' face
Praying Mantis #5973 		picture of an immature brown Praying Mantis
Brown Mantis #1861
a close-up photo of a Praying Mantis head
Praying Mantis #6011 		a macro photo of a Praying Mantis
Praying Mantis #6012 		a photo showing the hatching of Praying Mantises
Mantis Hatch #7527
TheWorldinLight has other categories of wildlife photos that can be viewed by choosing from the links in the following pull-down menu:
a picture showing the Mandibles of a Praying Mantis
Praying Mantis #6119 		The Praying Mantis Series of Picures
Praying Mantis #6120 		a close-up photo of a Mantis
Praying Mantis #6121
Mantis with the sky in the background
Praying Mantis #2375
This Praying Mantis was in my garden.

photo of a Praying Mantis standing up with front legs extended
Praying Mantis #2643
This photo shows the long front legs of the Praying Mantis.

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