Praying Mantis

Hello! My name is Praying Mantis. If you look closely at my front legs, you might see why. I often hold them together in a way that looks like I am praying, and that is how I got my name. My life began in a very special way in the spring. I didn't hatch from just one egg; I came out of a foamy egg case called an ootheca. When the sun warmed the air, I wiggled out into the world along with hundreds of my brothers and sisters! We were all so tiny, like little green dots. To me, the garden looked like a giant jungle. The big leaves were like green rooftops over my head, and the flower stems felt like tall skyscrapers. It was a huge, exciting world, and I was ready to explore every single leaf and branch. My adventure in the garden was just beginning.

Growing up is a little different for me than it is for you. I don't have any bones inside my body. Instead, I wear my skeleton on the outside. It's a hard outer shell called an exoskeleton, and it works like a suit of armor to keep me safe. But as I eat and get bigger, my armor gets too tight. When that happens, I have to do something amazing called molting. I find a safe spot, hold on tight to a branch, and then I wiggle and squirm until I slide right out of my old skin. Underneath, I have a brand-new, bigger exoskeleton waiting for me. I also have incredible eyesight to help me see my world. I have five eyes in total! There are two big ones on the sides of my head and three tiny ones in the middle. My head is special, too. It’s shaped like a triangle, and I can turn it almost all the way around without even moving my body. This helps me see everything happening around me.

One of my most important jobs in the garden is being a patient hunter. I don't have to run or chase after my food. I have a much smarter way of catching it. I use something called camouflage, which means my green body helps me blend in with all the leaves and stems around me. Other insects don't even know I'm there. I can stand perfectly still for a very long time, holding my spiky front legs ready. I wait and watch with my big eyes. When an unsuspecting fly or a little aphid wanders too close, I move faster than you can blink. Zap! My front legs shoot out and snatch my meal. They are so quick, the other bug doesn't even know what happened. This is how I find my food and do my important job of helping the garden stay healthy. It takes a lot of patience, but I am very good at waiting for the perfect moment.

My work as a hunter is very important for the whole garden ecosystem. People who grow flowers and vegetables sometimes call me a 'gardener's friend.' That's because I eat the little bugs, like aphids, that might nibble on the plants and cause them harm. Praying mantises can help control garden pests, but they may also consume beneficial insects, so their overall impact on garden health varies. My kind has been helping out in gardens for a very, very long time. A famous scientist named Carl Linnaeus even gave us our official scientific name way back in 1758. Mantises like me live through the warm spring and summer seasons. Before the cold weather arrives, we lay new egg cases so our children can carry on our important work in the garden the next year.