Praying mantises are strict carnivores and pure ambush predators. They do not scavenge or eat plants — every meal is living prey caught with their spined, lightning-fast forelegs. What an individual mantis eats depends almost entirely on one thing: how big it is relative to the prey.
What praying mantises eat in the wild
In nature, mantises take whatever moving prey they can overpower. For most species that means flies, crickets, moths, grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, bees, and other mantises. Larger species are genuinely formidable and have been documented catching small vertebrates — tiny lizards, frogs, and even hummingbirds at feeders — though insects make up the overwhelming majority of the diet.
Diet by life stage
A newly hatched nymph is only a few millimeters long and needs correspondingly tiny prey — fruit flies (Drosophila), aphids, and pinhead crickets. As the mantis molts and grows, prey size scales up: houseflies and small crickets for juveniles, then larger crickets, roaches, moths, and locusts for adults. A good rule is that prey should be roughly the length of the mantis’s head to the width of its body.
Hunting behavior
Mantises hunt by stillness. They wait, motionless and camouflaged, then strike in a fraction of a second — one of the fastest movements in the insect world. Their swiveling head and stereoscopic vision let them judge distance precisely before committing to a strike.
Cannibalism
Mantises are opportunistic enough to eat each other, which is why most are kept individually. Sexual cannibalism — the female consuming the male during or after mating — is real but less universal than its reputation suggests; it happens more often when the female is underfed.
Feeding a mantis in captivity
Captive mantises thrive on a varied diet of gut-loaded feeder insects: fruit flies for nymphs, graduating to crickets, roaches, and the occasional moth or fly for adults. Nymphs eat close to daily; adults typically eat every two to three days. Offer prey with tongs or release it near the mantis, remove uneaten insects, and never feed prey larger than the mantis can safely handle. Wild-caught insects risk pesticide exposure, so captive-bred feeders are safest.
Stock up on feeders and enclosure supplies in our terrarium shop, and read more mantis natural history in the SpeciesVault Nature Database.
Invertebrates we currently offer
Black Leg Piece of Lava Centipede (Scolopendra subspinipes ‘piceoflava’) For Sale Price range: $375.00 through $1,030.00Borneo Blue Centipede (Scolopendra sp. ‘Borneo Blue’) For Sale Price range: $200.00 through $550.00
Cameroon Pink Foot Millipede (Treptogonostreptus intricatus) For Sale Price range: $100.00 through $325.00Chinese Giant Tiger Leg Centipede (Scolopendra hainanum) For Sale Price range: $150.00 through $415.00Chocolate Spike Tail Millipede (Thyropygus allevatus) For Sale Price range: $100.00 through $325.00Giant Ember Millipede (Thyropygus sp.) For Sale Price range: $150.00 through $490.00Giant White Beard Centipede (Scolopendra sp. ‘White Beard’) For Sale Price range: $425.00 through $1,170.00
Gold Banded Millipede For Sale Price range: $100.00 through $275.00Grey Leg Millipede (Alienostreptus bicoloripes) For Sale Price range: $100.00 through $325.00Indonesian Cherry Centipede (Scolopendra dehaani) For Sale Price range: $140.00 through $385.00Inferno Leg Millipede (Alienostreptus bicoloripes) For Sale Price range: $100.00 through $325.00Millipede-Eating Centipede (Edentistoma octosulcatum) For Sale Price range: $400.00 through $1,100.00