Jeannie Walker, age 12, of Shreveport., La., for her question‑

What should I feed my pet praying‑ mantis?

Your slim elegant pet is a meat eater and her favorite food is insects. She will eat almost any kind of insect, including another mantis, so we may call her a cannibal. You may find this idea repulsive ‑ until you realize that she does not know any better. She makes up for her appalling habits by devouring countless insect pests which feed on our crops and gardens.

Your praying mantis will be very happy if you loose some flies and grasshoppers into her glass home. She will stand quite still, waiting until they get near enough, then she will pounce and eat them whole. She is a hungry creature and may eat up six or more grasshoppers in a single day. This means that she is not an easy pet to feed, As a rule, it is wise to keep her for only a few days during the summer when grasshoppers are easy to find, then return her to the wild where she can do so much good keeping down the insect pest population.