Carolina mantis
The Carolina mantis is a praying mantis from the United States. It can be brown, grey or green, so it is very hard to spot among plants. It waits very still with its front legs folded, ready to grab an insect.
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Fun facts
It is the state insect of South Carolina.
When the young mantis changes its skin, it can change its colour to match the place where it lives.
The female's wings are short and only cover three quarters of her body.
It has a dark dot on each of its front wings.
Gardeners can buy its egg cases in garden shops, so the mantises will eat garden pests.
Most asked questions about Carolina mantis
?Is the Carolina mantis dangerous?
No. It is harmless to people and helps gardeners by eating pest insects.
?How big is a Carolina mantis?
Grown-ups are about 4.7 to 6 centimetres long.
?Why does the Carolina mantis change colour?
Young mantises can match their colour to their surroundings each time they change their skin, which helps them hide.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Stagmomantis carolina
- Group
- Mantises
- Family
- Mantidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Mantodea > Mantidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Carolina mantis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Kaldari. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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