European mantis
The European mantis is a long green or brown insect with a triangle-shaped head and big eyes. It can turn its head to look right at you. Its spiky front legs are folded as if it is praying, but they are really for grabbing food.
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Fun facts
When it is scared, it spreads its wings and shows two black eye spots on its front legs to look bigger.
It has just one ear, in the middle of its belly between its back legs, and it can even hear very high sounds.
The females are so big and heavy that they usually cannot fly.
It can be green, brown, yellow or even black. Green ones often sit on green grass and brown ones on dry grass.
In recent years it has been found further north in Europe, even in Latvia and Estonia.
Most asked questions about European mantis
?Is the praying mantis dangerous?
No. It is harmless to people, although it might pinch a finger with its front legs.
?Why is it called a praying mantis?
Because it holds its front legs folded together, as if it is praying.
?How big is the European mantis?
Females are 6 to 8 centimetres long and males 5 to 7 centimetres.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Mantis religiosa
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Mantises
- Family
- Mantidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Mantodea > Mantidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, Africa, North America
- Also known as
- Praying mantis
Where the facts come from
- European 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 Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, 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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