Your insect may be a praying mantis

Order: Mantodea
Body length: 8 - 150mm
Species: World - 1800, UK - 0

Is the insect you are trying to identify a pet? There are no praying mantises in the wild in Britain. If you are using these pages to help you identify an insect that you have found, you should probably have another go!

These insects are excellent predators. When they hunt they hold their front legs out as though they are praying. In fact they are waiting to seize any smaller insects that may be passing by.

Find out all about praying mantids

Find out about different types of insects.
Return to the list on the Instant I.D. homepage and click on another link.