I did my report on the praying mantis because it is a very interesting insect in the mantid family. The Praying Mantis has an exoskeleton and is an invertebrate (all insects are invertebrates). A lot of people who write books on praying mantis disagree about the size, but most of the books said that the praying mantises are about 3.5-4.5 inches long. Praying mantises have very big eyes. That is one of the reasons they are such great hunters. To be an insect you have to have six legs, so the praying mantis just made the cut! The color of a praying mantis varies, but it is usually is either green or a brownish color. A very interesting fact I found was that the Praying Mantis was given it its name because its claws (also referred to as feet) go together like praying. Praying mantises are common in very hot places. If you just happen to be outside on a very hot day you just might see one!
Praying Mantises live in eastern America (you can find them in Canton), Southern Europe, and southern Canada. Flowers, Trees, other insects, birds and leaves are the main living things in the praying mantises habitat. Don’t be looking for any mantis in the in the winter! They die by early fall.
Praying mantises eat each other! That means they are cannibalistic. They also eat stinging wasps and poisonous spiders. The praying mantis has two claws (also counted as legs). It can see great with its huge eyes! It has two eyes on both sides of its body. Praying Mantises die after the summer so their life span is a couple of months. Praying mantises are born on a leaf in an egg. The mother does not care for her young.
I thought it was very interesting that if the male does something strange during mating, the female bites his head off! Even though a lot of male mantises die from this, the praying mantis is and will be here to stay for a while!