While walking around Hawkins Preserve in Cortez on a recent morning, I happened upon an insect that is letting itself be seen more this time of year. I managed to carefully scoop her (or him) up in my ...

Try to sneak up on a praying mantis, and you may be surprised when it looks over its shoulder at you. No other insect can do this. This ability, along with their rather humanlike faces and forelegs ...

Like all great assassins, praying mantises are patient. Many species sit completely still, waiting until edible creatures comes within reach. Then they pounce, holding prey in a death grip with their ...

The mantis shrimp boasts one of the most powerful, ultrafast punches in nature—it’s on par with the force generated by a .22 caliber bullet. This makes the creature an attractive object of study for ...

At this time of year, some nurseries start selling the egg cases of Chinese mantis as a biological control for the garden. These alien-looking insects are praying mantis and are harmless to humans, ...

Praying mantises are what scientists call “generalist” hunters, meaning they eat pretty much whatever they want. Despite their eclectic taste, however, no one has ever seen a praying mantis eat ...

Praying mantises may not actually pray, but they do prey heavily on their fellow insects, along with other small land animals. Now, however, for the first time, scientists have documented a praying ...

No matter how many times I come across one, I always get a kick when I find a praying mantis egg case. The tan-colored egg cases are somewhat common but hard enough to find that it makes them a bit of ...

Nature's 'sleeper beast,' the praying mantis, belies its calm facade with lethal predatory prowess. These insects, masters of stealth and speed, possess remarkable 3D vision and lightning-fast strikes ...