Do Praying Mantis Eat Slugs? (7 Interesting Facts)

People who keep pet praying mantises often express interest in knowing whether the mantises can eat slugs. We also have people who seek to know whether praying mantises can eat slugs out of pure curiosity. This article answers that question.

Do praying mantis eat slugs? Yes, praying mantis are capable of eating slugs. However, for the mantises, slugs are not among the staple or most favorite foods. Sometimes, a mantis will only eat a slug if it can’t easily find anything else to feed on.

Thus if you keep a pet mantis, the option of having it feed on slugs is still available. But you need to know that for the mantis, the slug may not be a highly enjoyable food.

Indeed, if you research on what eats slugs, mantises normally won’t be anywhere close to the top of the list. This means that while praying mantises can eat slugs, the slugs are certainly not among the staple foods for mantises.

Mantises only eat slugs occasionally.

Are Slugs Safe For Praying Mantis?

Slugs are quite safe for praying mantises.

Praying mantises are known to eat slugs from time to time, without seeming to suffer any noticeable harm.

If you carefully analyze a slug chemically, you usually won’t find any sort of compound in it that is capable of really harming a mantis.

We can thus assert that slugs are safe for praying mantises (to eat).

Are Slugs Beneficial For Praying Mantis?

Slug meat has nutrients that a praying mantis’ body may find helpful.

We can thus say that slugs are beneficial to praying mantises to that extent.

Will Praying Mantis Eat Slugs?

Yes, if a praying mantis is in need of food, and it happens to encounter slugs, it will eat them.

To be sure, praying mantises don’t really seem to like eating slugs. Indeed, if you were to ask, do praying mantis eat slugs daily, the answer would be mostly ‘no’. But they do eat the slugs, if they have to.

Therefore in general terms, only once in a while will mantis eat slugs.

The praying mantises’ feeding on slugs tends to be coincidental. The slugs are not their best food. They only eat them when they have to.

Here, one may pose a more direct question: can I feed praying mantis slugs? And the answer is ‘yes’ – though you need to know that the mantises don’t really seem to like eating slugs.

Thus at most, you should only have your mantis eat slugs occasionally. It wouldn’t be fair to subject your mantis to a staple diet of slugs, as the mantises don’t really like eating slugs.

Which Types Of Slugs Do Mantis Eat?

Having found out that a praying mantis can (reluctantly) eat slugs, the next logical question is on which types of slugs it can eat.

So we seek to know whether the mantis can eat live, dead or frozen slugs.

Do Praying Mantis Eat Live Slugs?

Yes, praying mantis do eat live slugs.

In fact, if you are to offer slugs as food to your mantis, you better make sure that the slugs are live. Otherwise the mantis won’t even come close to touching them.

Do Praying Mantis Eat Dead Slugs?

No, praying mantises don’t eat dead slugs.

If a mantis figures out that a slug is already dead, it will just leave it alone. Thus the only situation in which a mantis will (reluctantly) consider eating a slug is if it finds it well and alive.

Do Praying Mantis Eat Frozen Slugs?

No, praying mantises don’t eat frozen slugs.

Freezing kills the slugs. And once the slugs are dead, they become unsuitable for mantises to feed on.

How Many Slugs Should Praying Mantis Eat?

So far, we have learnt that mantises are capable of eating slugs – notwithstanding the fact that the slugs are not a food they seem to like.

For the pet praying mantis owner, the next relevant question is on how many slugs to give to the mantis. That, by inference, should also answer the question on how much slug is too much for praying mantis.

The true position is that a mantis can only eat one or two slugs (since the slugs tend to be fairly big). Thus anything beyond two slugs may be too much for a mantis.

Final Verdict – Do Praying Mantis Eat Slugs

Praying mantis do eat slugs. To be sure, the slugs are not among the foods that the praying mantises eat on a regular basis. The mantises certainly don’t seem to like eating slugs. But when they have to, praying mantises do eat slugs.

Thus as a pet praying mantis owner, you may entertain the idea of occasionally having it eat slugs (if you can find small, live slugs).

As a pet lover, make sure to learn about pet more and give your pet mantis a good and comfortable life!

Rajkumar Ravichandran

Welcome to Learn About Pet. My name is Rajkumar Ravichandran and I love all pets, travel, and amazing food. I write about my passion and personal experience caring for multiple pets in this blog! ❤️