why are praying mantises so rare to see??

Question

ive only seen one of these in my whole life,when i was a kid.why are they so rare??

whoa!! i didnt know praying mantises eat humming birds! :O

Answer 1

They are not that rare. You are just not looking in the right places. I work in an office building in north Raleigh, NC and I see them every season. We had one on the outside of the building that to be 4 to 5 inches long this last summer. I don't know what to tell you, but just start looking around in different areas, like around big buildings near dark, and around schools and talk walks in public parks and such. Good luck.

Answer 2

A common misconception about Praying Mantises (or Mantids) are that they are an endangered species. They are not, and have never been endangered.

The reason why you may not see them very often is because they have excellent camouflage capabilities. They can adapt their color to their surroundings. The colors they use are earth tones, ranging from a dark brown to a bright green, and it allows them to blend in and wait for its unsuspecting prey (or, in this case, hide from us). The ones in North America are usually green and brown. Also, the size of the praying mantis can vary between one centimeter (2/5 of an inch) and over six inches depending on the species.

There are between 1,800 and 2,000 praying mantis species, and most of them are found in Asia, only 20 of them are found in North America and Europe. There are three main types of mantids in Eastern United States: the European mantid (Mantis religiosa), Carolina mantid (Stagmomantis carolina) and Chinese mantid (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis).

I hope this helps to answer your question.

Praying mantises are a fascinating insect. In case you're interested, one of the things I found interesting is that the female of the species devours its mate and gruesomely removes his head!

Also of interest may be the pics of a praying mantis devouring a humming bird. Check them out here: http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/backyardbirds/hummingbirds/mantis-hummer.aspx

Answer 3

How Rare Are Praying Mantis

Answer 4

It's true that you've been looking in the wrong places..! I've been living in Japan for 3 years, last summer I saw 5 or 6 mantids - which was a really pleasant surprise after living in the UK..! We kept a couple of females, and one of their egg sacks hatched this year ..!!

There have been a lot of mantids here this year - not because of our egg sack though..! All 4 of the local species have been seen in abundance for some reason ... I personally must have spotted 30 or 40 mantids in the wild this year, including the time we wanted an extra male for mating purposes, and we went out to see the selection, and picked one we liked the look of..!!

Most mantids are too small to eat a hummingbird BTW, plus most mantids live in the wrong region..! To be honest, I've only ever seen ONE pic of a mantis eating a hummingbird - on lots of different sites! You can't help wondering if the mantis actually caught it single-handed though, after all it's a bit of a coincidence that someone just 'happened' to be standing there with a camera...?!?!?

The females do NOT always eat the male. She will start to eat him during mating if his head is too close to her face (she'll think he's a threat,) and if he doesn't scarper pretty fast AFTER mating she'll zoom in on him as a juicy morsel and grab him..!!

The thing about mantids is, if there's not a suitable meal within view they eat each other...! They really have NO sense of comradeship, or anything remotely similar..! I know in some areas of America there aren't many mantids anyway, maybe you live in one of those areas? If you DO live in an area where there are mantids, go out looking for crickets one hot summer's day - look in long grasses, bushes, even on footpaths, and you'll probably be surprised to see a mantis staring at you in a very interested fashion!

Answer 5

I see them every now and again. I did almost step on one the other day...it was pretty camouflaged against the pavement. My friend has one hanging out on his hummingbird feeder and it was catching bees that came near the feeder. I let him know that it COULD be hanging around the feeder to eat a hummingbird, so he moved the little guy. He had been replacing the praying mantis each time he did a cleaning...but now does not trust leaving him there in case he is after hummingbirds.

Answer 6

Ambush is the mantis's best friend and ambush does not work too well when the prey can see you standing there.

Plus, there are animals out there that want to eat a praying mantis. Birds, lizards, me. All sorts of things for them to watch out for. So good camoflauge and hiding skills are a must for a praying mantis.

Answer 7

Well they are pretty common in certain areas. I live in Canada, and I do see three or four every year, but thats the most I see. The best time to find them is in late summer and eary autumn, typically in bushes along open areas like agricultural fields and ditches, this is where their prey is most abundant at this time of year.

Answer 8

They camouflage very well, and are always under brushes and leaves

I bought several eggcases for my garden this year, and ended up seeing like 5, or so. My favorite was catching this one sneaking up on a fly.

Answer 9

If you bend over in a field and start moving the knee-high green grass, a big green one is bound to fly right at your face.

If you have quick reflexes, you will find that their smashed contentes taste sour and slighly acidic.

Answer 10

Depends on where you live.
I grew up in Africa and have seen plenty.
They are never plentiful, though, because they are an apex predator in the insect realm.
Also, like all successful predators, they are well camouflaged.