The Preying Mantis - Super Closeups & Stuff You Never Knew

Preying Mantis - Did Not Mean to Bug Ya! - Sequim, WA - Day 1 – Masters of Camouflage

Preying mantises blend seamlessly with leaves, sticks, and flowers — some even mimic orchids to ambush prey.

Preying Mantis - Raptorial Foreleg Holding & Eating Prey - Sequim, Washington - Day 2 - The preying mantis using its raptorial foreleg—those long, spiny, folded “arms” that are specialized for grasping prey. You can clearly see:

• Spines along the tibia and femur: These act like barbed hooks, preventing prey from escaping once caught.

• The “raptorial strike” in action: Mantises fold and unfold those forelegs with lightning speed, snaring insects and holding them tight against the body while they eat.

• Mouthparts at work: the mantis appears to be actively chewing—using its strong mandibles to tear apart the prey. Mantises often hold food close to their mouth like this, almost “thoughtfully”.

Preying Mantis - Sitting Pretty - Sequim, Washington - Day 3 - Female preying mantises lay their eggs in a protective capsule-like structure called an ootheca.

Here’s how it works:

• After mating, the female secretes a foamy substance that hardens into a tough case.

• Inside the ootheca, dozens (sometimes hundreds) of eggs are laid.

• The case protects the eggs through winter or dry seasons, depending on the species.

• In spring (or when conditions are right), tiny mantis nymphs emerge from slits in the capsule.

So, while they don’t lay single eggs directly in the open, they encase them in these hardened capsules that look a bit like dried foam or a tan/brown blob attached to twigs, grass, or other surfaces.

Preying Mantis - Raptorial Forelegs - Sequim, Washington - Day 4 -Raptorial Forelegs

• The spines you see on the inside of the forelegs act like barbs.

• They snap shut incredibly fast, pinning prey in place like a spiked trap.

• Once caught, it’s almost impossible for the insect to escape — the mantis can eat at its leisure.

2. Triangular Head and Eyes

• Mantises can rotate their head almost 180°, which is rare among insects.

• The big compound eyes give them excellent binocular vision for judging distance when striking.

Together, those adaptations make them superb ambush predators.

Preying Mantis - About Face - Sequim, Washington - Day 5 - Alien Eyes -

They have five eyes — two large compound eyes for detail and three simple eyes to detect light and movement. Masters of Stillness -

Mantises wait motionless for hours, conserving energy until the perfect strike — patience is their hunting superpower.

Preying Mantis - Surprised Look - Sequim, Washington - Day 6 - Female preying mantises can eat their mates after, or even during, mating — a behavior called sexual cannibalism. However, it’s not universal:

• In the wild: It happens far less often than in laboratory settings. In nature, the male often escapes after mating.

• In captivity or observation setups: It’s much more common, since the male can’t get away and the female may be hungrier or stressed.

• Why she does it: If the female is undernourished, she may consume the male to gain nutrients for egg production. From an evolutionary perspective, it can even increase the survival chances of her offspring.

Interestingly, when it does happen, the male can sometimes continue mating even after being decapitated — because the mating reflex is controlled by the nerve ganglia in his abdomen, not the brain.

So yes — it’s true that praying mantises can eat their mates, but it’s not as routine or brutal in the wild as the myth suggests.

Studies suggest that up to 25–30% of mantis matings in the wild involve cannibalism, while in labs it can be 60–70% or higher, depending on species and setup.

So it’s a real behavior — just exaggerated by the conditions of observation.

Preying Mantis - Mouth Structure - Sequim, Washington Day 7 - What a Mouth! - It has chewing, not piercing, mouthparts.

Unlike many other insects that pierce or suck (like mosquitoes or butterflies), mantises have mandibulate (chewing) mouthparts — designed to tear and grind solid food. They can literally chew through their prey piece by piece while holding it in place with their spiked forelegs.

2. The mouth has three main parts that work together:

• Mandibles – the powerful “jaws” that slice and crush prey. They’re serrated and asymmetrical for efficient cutting.

• Maxillae – assist the mandibles by manipulating and holding food as it’s chewed; they also have small sensory palps that help taste and handle prey.

• Labium (lower lip) – forms the floor of the mouth and helps keep food from falling out while eating.

Together, these create a surprisingly precise feeding system — more like a tiny set of pliers and scissors than just a jaw.

3. The bite is fast and efficient.

Once the mantis grabs its prey with its raptorial forelegs, it uses the mandibles to start feeding immediately — often while the prey is still alive. The strength-to-size ratio of their mandibles is impressive; they can easily shear through the exoskeleton of beetles, grasshoppers, and even small reptiles or hummingbirds.

4. The mouth is under the head — but the head can swivel.

The mantis can rotate its head up to 180°, giving it an excellent view of prey from multiple angles while keeping its mouth positioned perfectly to begin feeding.

5. The palps act like taste buds and fingers.

Tiny sensory appendages called palps on the maxillae and labium detect chemical cues and textures — helping the mantis identify whether something is edible or worth rejecting.

6. They can eat prey larger than their own head.

Thanks to their flexible neck and the wide hinge of their mandibles, mantises can consume surprisingly large prey items in chunks — starting at the head and working down, which is why many photos show them “biting the face” first.

Preying Mantis - Farewell Checkout - Sequim, Washington - Day 8 - Paul Sanders wrote a wonderful poem to go with this last image in my series on the Preying Mantis. I hope you enjoyed this series and learned a lot from it. 🙂

Prayer in Green

By Paul Sanders

Photo by Keith Ross “Keiths Frame of Mind”

In gardens green, where shadows lean,

a slender hunter waits unseen.

With folded arms in quiet prayer,

she sways like grass upon the air.

Her head can turn, her gaze is keen,

two lantern eyes that pierce the scene.

Within the stems where insects hide,

unaware of death nearby.

From summer’s warmth to autumn’s chill,

she lays her eggs with patient skill—

a frothy case upon the reed,

a nest for all her mantis seed.

In spring, the nymphs like echoes call,

so tiny, fragile, quick, and small.

They shed their skins, they rise, they grow,

as cycles turn, as seasons flow.

Yet beauty masks this hunter’s grace,

no mercy lingers in her face.

She takes what comes—bee, moth, or kin—

for hunger rules the world she’s in.

Among the grasses, still she stands,

a hunter cloaked with folded hands.

She waits with patience, lean and tall,

a moment’s silence before the fall.

I hope you enjoyed The Preying Mantis - Super Closeups & Stuff You Never Knew series. Check out the others!