Praying Mantid

You have probably seen this insect at some point in your life and it features in various cultures as either being lucky to find or a bad omen, depending in which part of the world you live in.


Generally, the praying mantis will live for only six months. Some species will live up to a whole year. The life cycle of the praying mantis consists of three main stages, namely the egg stage, nymph stage and adult stage.


It feeds mainly on other insects but it has been documented that larger praying mantises are able to consume small reptiles and even small mammals or birds. These praying mantis facts are well documented in many praying mantis videos.


For a really cool site check out http://www.theprayingmantis.org where Mantis Man and his brother have a dedicated site to this magnificent insect, with stunning videos that show Mantids in various scenarios
* catching a hummingbird, a baboon spider, and several other prey.

The Mantis featured here lived at home on the WildCoast of the Transkei in the Umngazi Valley and although it initially kept running away from my relentless pursuit with the camera, it was inquisitive enough to stop and give me the look on several occasions, later entering into the house and making itself comfortable on the vase of roses, perfectly camouflaged among the leaves.

From the Mantis website ..... the world's largest praying mantis was recorded at about 18 inches long, in Southern China, in 1929. That is almost the length of a human’s forearm!