The Praying Mantis Lifecycle

The praying mantis lifecycle is around one year for most species, with half of this spent in adulthood.

Mating
The first step to witnessing a full life cycle is to sex your mantids for breeding by inspecting their abdomen – males have eight segments on the abdomen’s underside versus six for the female. When mating these insects you need to hope for the best because sometimes the female’s carnivorous instincts override her sexual urges and she eats the male.

A good idea is to stand at the tank and keep watch during the mating, and separate if it looks like the female will attack. Another tip is to feed the female prior to putting the male in so that she is distracted.

Eggs
One thing to watch out for is that even if your mantis lays eggs they may not give rise to young, as unmated females also lay eggs that simply don’t hatch.

The females lay several egg cases known as oothecae, with each case usually having up to 200 eggs. The oothecae is a rich liquid and will be laid within two weeks of mating, some time as early as a day after the event.

The eggs hatch to four to six week later to reveal gnat-sized mantids, that will embark on the moulting process. It’s not uncommon for siblings to feast on one another as a first meal.

Metamorphosis
The praying mantis metamorphosis is one of hemimetabolism. This means that the larvae differ markedly from the adults only in terms of size, and development of larva proceeds in repeated stages of growth and moulting. Each stage of growth is known as an instar.

This moulting process is one of the most interesting parts of the praying mantis life cycle. The exoskeleton is shed to allow further growth a number of times as each instar adds segments and increases the body’s size. Instars reach an end once the mantid has developed wings.

Your mantid will molt fortnightly, and it is important not to disturb the mantis during moulting.

Caring for your praying mantis
A praying mantis is a pretty simple insect to care for. They like to have something to climb on, and plenty of live food. A vivarium of around 18 inches in height should be adequate for most species.

A temperature of around 24 degrees should be maintained with the use of spot lights or heating pads. Another way to maintain the 60% humidity that the mantis likes is to use a moisture-retaining soil substrate. In addition to this a shallow water dish should be provided.