Giant African mantis
The giant African mantis is a big praying mantis that can be bright green or dull brown. It holds its spiky front legs folded, ready to grab a meal. Both boys and girls have a white spot on their wings.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
A girl can grow to about 10 centimetres long. Boys are much smaller.
One egg case can hatch up to 300 tiny babies.
It is a popular pet because it is big, tough and easy to look after.
Sometimes a girl mantis eats the boy after they mate.
A girl can sometimes have babies without a boy at all.
Most asked questions about Giant African mantis
?What does the giant African mantis eat?
Insects such as crickets and cockroaches, about as big as itself.
?How big does the giant African mantis get?
Girls can reach about 10 centimetres. Boys are much smaller.
?Is the giant African mantis a good pet?
Many people say it is a good first mantis, because it is easy to keep.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Sphodromantis viridis
- Group
- Mantises
- Family
- Mantidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Mantodea > Mantidae
- Lives on
- Africa, Asia, Europe
- Also known as
- African mantis, Bush mantis
Where the facts come from
- Sphodromantis viridis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Adamantios. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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