Mantis religiosa (Linnaeus, 1758)
Praying Mantid
Taxonomy:
- Dictyoptera›Mantodea›Mantinae›Mantis religiosa
Status:
NN
Colours show the year of the last record -
| up to 1987 | 1988-97 | 1998 up to present |
Only Recording Scheme datasets are included. Other datasets on the Gateway may hold additional information.
Description:
Usually green, sometimes brown.
Size:
Males smaller than females.
Wings:
Both sexes are fully winged and fly well in warm weather.
Food:
Carnivorous, feeding on other insects including grasshoppers and bush crickets.
Habitat:
Native to Southern and Central Europe, inhabiting uncut grassland and shrubs. Only found in the UK on one occasion in 1959 in East Sussex.
Phenology:
In the native range, adults appear from July to November.