Praying Mantis – Feeding

Q: My husband found a baby praying mantis on his windshield. This guy is only an inch long; what can we feed this little critter?

A: It needs soft-bodied insects like fruit flies or aphids. Try putting banana or apple slices on a saucer in a sunny spot outdoors for a couple of days. That should attract fruit flies. Put the insect-coated rotting fruit in a well-screened mantis habitat and see what happens.