How To Pin A Praying Mantis? (AVOID 3 Terrible Mistakes)

If you are setting up a praying mantis collection on a display board, you will need to know how to go about pinning the mantises properly. This article explains how exactly to pin a mantis.

In a nutshell, this is how to pin a praying mantis: by getting hold of an insect pin, using it to pierce through the center of the mantis’ thorax, and pushing the pin past the insect’s body – at least halfway into the spreading board.

You will of course need to have prepared the mantis for display first: mostly by applying the relevant preservatives.

So you will first have gone through the process of learning how to preserve a praying mantis. Once you are sure that the mantis is properly preserved, you can proceed to the pinning stage.

Why Do You Need To Pin A Praying Mantis?

Before venturing into a discussion on how to pin a mantis, it is essential for us to first understand why the pinning is necessary.

So, indeed, why do you need to pin a praying mantis? In most cases, people pin mantises (and other insects) for display purposes.

Suppose, for instance, one is an insect collector in. This necessitates having a board for displaying the collected insects. And for the collected insects to appear on the board, they have to be pinned onto it.

So that is the context within which the pinning of a praying mantis comes up. And this is how you may encounter a pinned ghost mantis, a pinned orchid mantis and so on.

There are also instances in which the pinning of insects like praying mantises is for identification purposes. So that is yet another context within which one may find themselves having to pin a mantis.

How To Pin A Praying Mantis?

Whether you are doing it for display or identification purposes, you need to ensure that you do the praying mantis pinning the right way.

Here, focus is on how do you pin an insect to a board: the ‘insect’ being specifically a praying mantis.

The way you do it is by piercing the mantis (at the mid-right section of the thorax) using an insect pin. Ensure that the pin goes right through the mantis’ body. Then get the pin to go into the display board.

Ensure that it at least goes halfway through the board’s breadth. This way, you can be sure that the mantis will remain pinned on the board for reasonably long.

That then, is how to properly pin a praying mantis to a board.

Of course, before getting to the actual pinning stage though, you will have gotten hold of the mantis in question. Then you will have prepared it for pinning, by applying the right preservatives.

Now with regard to getting hold of the mantis, this should be by going to a place that is frequented by the mantises. Then capture it without distorting its appearance.

At this stage, the questions you will be grappling with include these ones: do praying mantis pinch, and can you safely hold a praying mantis?

And the truth of the matter is that praying mantises do indeed pinch. But there is a way to safely handle them. It is a delicate affair though.

So the whole thing is akin to trying to figure out how to play with praying mantis without squashing it…

Ultimately though, after getting hold of the mantis, you next need to preserve it (by, say, applying formalin).

Then you can proceed to pin it, as explained above.

Mistakes To Avoid While Pinning A Praying Mantis

Firstly, you need to avoid inserting the pin through the head or abdomen. It only should go via the thorax: through the middle right part of the thorax.

Secondly, you need to avoid using improper pins. Only make use of a specialized insect pin. It works better.

Thirdly, you need to avoid rushing through the preservation process, in order to get to the pinning stage fast. Make an effort to do preservation properly.

Try to genuinely learn how to make a praying mantis stay without decaying, using the right preservatives. Otherwise you may end up with the embarrassing specter of a pinned mantis that is actually rotting.

Final Verdict – How To Pin A Praying Mantis

To pin a praying mantis properly, you need to have an insect pin, an appropriate board and the properly preserved mantis.

Pick the space within the display board where you are to pin the mantis. Place the mantis on that spot. Then pierce the mantis (through the mid right section of its thorax), and get the pin to penetrate right into the board.

Ensure that your pin goes at least halfway into the breadth of the board.

This way, you will be assured that the pinned praying mantis can remain on the board for posterity, unless it is forcefully/intentionally plucked out.

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! ❤️