Praying Mantids are all-purpose guardians of the garden. They eat a wide variety of garden pests throughout their life cycle. Up to 200 Mantid nymphs will emerge from a single egg mass. During this early stage they will eat aphids, thrips, flies and maggots, small caterpillars, leafhoppers, white grubs and other soft-bodied insects.

Mature Mantids feed on larger caterpillars, earwigs, chinch bugs, sow bugs, beetles, grasshoppers and other large insects. Fortunately, they do not like the taste of ladybugs.
While most insects are constantly searching for food, Mantids are content to stay in one area and wait for their food to walk by and grab it with their strong forelegs and lightning speed. Praying Mantids tend to be territorial and stay near the area where they are released.