Parts of a Mantis – Head, Prothorax, Abdomen and Legs

All 14 parts on the diagram

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The mantis 9

Head Triangular. A mantis can turn it from side to side.
Antennae A pair of thin, thread-like feelers on the head.
Compound eyes Two large, bulging eyes, each made of many facets.
Prothorax The long front of the thorax. It carries the head and forelegs.
Abdomen The rear section of the body. It ends in two cerci.
Walking legs The four rear legs. A mantis stands and walks on them.
Tegmina (forewings) Thickened front wings that protect the delicate hind wings.
Forelegs (raptorial legs) Spiny front legs that catch prey and hold it.
Cerci A pair of short, jointed appendages at the tip of the abdomen.

Foreleg and eggs 5

Coxa The first piece of the leg. On a foreleg it is long.
Femur The thick middle piece of the grasping leg.
Tibia The thinner piece beyond the femur, with a claw at its tip.
Spines Rows on the femur and tibia that grip the prey.
Egg mass (ootheca) Hundreds of eggs in a foam that hardens round a twig.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two of these use it: (1) North Carolina State University, ENT 425 General Entomology, Mantodea, https://genent.cals.ncsu.edu/insect-identification/order-mantodea/ (filiform antennae, the triangular head with compound eyes, the elongate prothorax with large spiny front legs, thickened front wings, cerci; the head that turns from side to side), with its page on insect legs, https://genent.cals.ncsu.edu/bug-bytes/thorax/legs/ (coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia, tarsus; raptorial legs), and its pages on the thorax and abdomen, https://genent.cals.ncsu.edu/bug-bytes/thorax/ and https://genent.cals.ncsu.edu/bug-bytes/abdomen/ (the walking legs on the thorax and the abdomen behind it, in every insect); (2) University of Kentucky Entomology, Kentucky Critter Files, Praying Mantids, https://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/insects/mantids/mantids.htm (triangular heads, spiny raptorial front legs, the thickened front wings or tegmina that protect the hind wings, compound eyes with many facets, egg masses of hundreds of eggs fixed to twigs); (3) Wikipedia, Mantis, text only, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis (thread-like antennae, compound eyes, prothorax, the posterior four legs, the abdomen ending in a pair of cerci, raptorial legs with the long coxa, the spiny femur, the tibia and its claw, tegmina, cerci, ootheca); (4) J. H. Comstock, A Manual for the Study of Insects, https://archive.org/details/rnanualforstudyof00coms_0 (the long, slender prothorax; eggs laid in masses under a hard covering). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no photograph or plate followed. Licence: own work

How it works

The parts of a mantis are a triangular head with antennae and large eyes, a long prothorax, an abdomen under the wings, four walking legs and two spiny forelegs. The second drawing opens one foreleg out.

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The whole mantis, then one foreleg

Numbers 1 to 7 are the body of the praying mantis: the head, the antennae, a compound eye, the prothorax, the abdomen, the walking legs and the tegmina (the leathery front wings). Numbers 8 and 9 are the folded forelegs and the cerci at the tip of the abdomen. Numbers 10 to 13 are one foreleg opened out: the coxa, the femur, the tibia and the spines that line them. Number 14 is an egg mass on a twig.

The grasping part of the foreleg is the femur and the tibia. The long piece above them is the coxa.
A mantis has two pairs of wings. The leathery front pair covers the hind pair.

Questions and answers

What are the front legs of a praying mantis called?

Raptorial legs, which means legs made for seizing. Each has a long coxa, a thick femur and a thinner tibia. Spines on the femur and tibia hold the prey.

How many legs does a praying mantis have?

Six, like every insect. The front pair is the spiny grasping pair. The other four are thin walking legs.

Can a praying mantis turn its head?

Yes. North Carolina State University's entomology course notes that only mantids, among insects, can turn the head from side to side without moving the rest of the body.

What is a praying mantis egg case called?

An ootheca. The female lays her eggs in a frothy mass that hardens into a protective case, often fixed to a twig. One egg mass can hold hundreds of eggs.