Praying Mantis

Our classroom will be hatching praying mantis egg sacks.

Students that receive their parent’s permission will be able to take one of these insects home. This will be possible once they are big enough and after students are familiar with care procedures for their mantis.

Here is a copy of the Praying Mantis Care Sheet that will be sent home with students. (Righ-click on the link and select “save link as” or if using a mac, hold down the ctrl key and click on the link and select the “save link as” to download the word document.)

Here are a few pictures to help you when building the habitat for the mantis at home.

I bought these from Micheal’s for $2.99 each +tax. A kid’s allowance can cover that! The salt shaker is intentional in this picture to give you an appreciation for the height of the glass dish. It should be big enough for the mantis for a few molts before it finally gets too big for the jar.

After having washed and properly rinsed the jar, I added wood chip pellets to the bottom for a base. A base is necessary so that the mantis doesn’t drown.

In the jar, place a tree branch. Ensure that the branch is not too long that it sticks out of the jar because you will be covering the jar.

There is a video in our ning group regarding the proper use of stockings for covers on these jars. This video will explain how to water the jar and your mantis.

Check out this video in our ning group. It is of baby mantises being born from the mantis egg sack.

Check out this video in our ning group. It is of an older mantis on a human hand.

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