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Life Cycle of a Mantis

Although a bit formidable looking with its large pincers, the praying mantis is a harmless insect with respect to humans. For insects and other small animals, however, it's a deadly predator, one that is not too particular about what it eats.

Egg
- A female praying mantis lays over 100 eggs in a pale, frothy egg sack. She places the sack on trees or leaves where it is camouflaged from predators.
Larva
- The praying mantis larva stage takes place within the egg sack. The larvae do not leave the sack until they have become nymphs.
Nymph
- Baby praying mantises emerge from the egg sack as miniature versions of adults. They are identical in appearance to adults, but do not have wings and must wait a few hours for their exoskeletons to harden before venturing into the wild.
Molting and Wings
- Nymphs shed their outer skeletons approximately six times to accommodate their growing size. Wings do not appear until the final molt, when the mantis is several months old.
Adult
- An adult praying mantis can grow to be six inches long, with the females generally larger than the males. They are solitary insects who meet only to mate, and live only one season.

Insects & Science