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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Mantids (Mantodea)

Order Mantodea - Mantids

Representative Images

Mantid - Tenodera sinensis - male Mantid - Stagmomantis carolina - female Little Yucatan Mantid - Mantoida maya Mantis at Saguaro NP, Arizona - Litaneutria minor - male Mantid with prey - Tenodera sinensis - female Grizzled Mantid - Gonatista grisea - female Grass-like Mantis - Thesprotia graminis - male Mantis Multiple Birth Chinese Mantid nymph - Tenodera sinensis

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Mantodea (Mantids)

Other Common Names

Mantis, Praying Mantis, Praying Locust

Pronunciation

man-TOE-dee-ah

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Mantoptera
major changes in higher classification recetly proposed in (1)

Explanation of Names

Mantodea Burmeister 1838

Numbers

28 spp. in 16 genera of 6 families in our area(2), ~2300 spp. worldwide, arranged in 29 families(1)(3)

Size

1 cm (Mantoida tenuis) to >17 cm (Ischnomantis gigas)(4)(3)

Identification

keys to spp. in (2)
Forelegs raptorial; head triangular, (5), very flexibly articulated, allowing a mantid to "look over its shoulder"(6)

Oothecae:
Gonatista grisea Liturgusa maya Brunneria borealis Litaneutria minor
Mantis religiosa Phyllovates chlorophaea Stagmomantis californica S. carolina S. gracilipes Tenodera sinensis T. angustipennis Iris oratoria Oligonicella scudderi

Season

North American spp. usually live from spring to late autumn with eggs overwintering; tropical mantids may live longer

Food

typically other arthropods; can be highly cannibalistic. Large mantids may catch small birds, lizards, frogs...

Life Cycle

Metamorphosis incomplete; generally 7 or more molts. Eggs laid late in the season in an egg case, or ootheca (first foamy, then papery) and hatch in the spring. Most individuals seen in the field are gravid females; males are often eaten by females immediately after mating.(7)

Remarks

Non-native species
Liturgusa maya. From the Neotropics, recently
European Mantis, Mantis religiosa. From Europe, late 19th century
Asian Jumping Mantis, Statilia maculata. From Asia, recently (2010s?)
Narrow-winged Mantis, Tenodera angustipennis. From Asia, 1930
Chinese Mantid, Tenodera sinensis. From China, late 19th century
Mediterranean Mantis, Iris oratoria. From w. Palaearctic

See Also

Raptorial legs are found among Heteroptera (Reduviidae, Nepidae); Neuroptera (Mantispidae); and some Diptera

Print References

Brannoch SK, Wieland F, Rivera J, Klass K-D, Béthoux O, Svenson GJ (2017). Manual of praying mantis morphology, nomenclature, and practices (Insecta, Mantodea). ZooKeys 696: 1-100. (Full Text)

Works Cited

1.The systematics of Mantodea revisited: an updated classification incorporating multiple data sources (Insecta: Dictyoptera)
Schwarz C.J., Roy R. 2019. Ann. Soc. ent. Fr. (N.S.) 55: 101‒196.
2.Praying Mantises of the United States and Canada
Kris Anderson. 2018. Independently published.
3.Otte D., Spearman L., Stiewe M.B.D. Mantodea species file online. Version 5.0
4.The Praying Mantids
Frederick R. Prete, Lawrence E. Hurd, Patrick, H. Wells, Harrington Wells. 2000. Johns Hopkins University Press.
5.Grasshoppers and Mantids of the World
Ken Preston-Mafham. 1991. Facts on File, Inc.
6.National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders
Lorus and Margery Milne. 1980. Knopf.
7.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
Contributed by Charley Eiseman on 11 October, 2009 - 4:43pm
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Beatriz Moisset, Keith Bayless, Aaron Schusteff, v belov, Harsi S. Parker, Ken Childs, Marci Hess, Arturo Santos
Last updated 9 September, 2025 - 11:20am

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