The mantid, usually called "praying mantis", is a familiar sight in our gardens. This leathery, stick-like insect, is in the same family as the cock roach.

In Arizona, the mantid can be green, gray or brown, and ranges from one-half to two inches long.

Mantids are considered beneficial because they don't eat our plants. Instead, they stalk and feast upon almost any other living thing. They will fly after insects, or sit motionless, or sway slowly until they suddenly reach out to grab their prey, impale it upon their spined legs, and clamp it securely while tearing it with strong, biting mouthparts. Therefore, while being praised for devouring annoying insects, the praying mantis will also eat beneficial ones, including other mantids. While usually found on vegetation, rather than the ground, they are well camouflaged, and look like a slender leaf or twig. Since the adult mantids also fly, they will occasionally alight on a car, or position themselves on a wall near an insect-attracting light at night.

The best way to encourage a mantid to move is with something other than your hand. This insect, while not poisonous, has very large, powerful jaws and can deliver a painful bite, drawing blood from the more tender parts of a hand.

Mantid egg cases are usually well attached to a stick or branch of a tree or shrub. The cases are often light brown, smooth, and about the size of a walnut. If you should find an egg case, and it is in a safe place, just leave it there. If you need to move it, simply put it in a protected garden spot. Don't, for even an afternoon, bring it inside. Too many times the indoor warmth has encouraged two hundred tiny mantids to suddenly start pouring out of the egg case. Kitchen and classroom walls and ceilings have often been covered with little nymphs. At that point, a vacuum cleaner has been found to be the most efficient way to de-mantid the room. Praying mantis egg cases are often available from mail order garden and seed supply companies.