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The praying mantis is one of the strangest predatory insects on the entire planet. Some features of the life of an unusual creature, its habits, in particular its famous mating habits, may shock many. This insect is often found in ancient myths and tales of many countries. Some peoples attributed to them the ability to predict the coming of spring; in China, mantises were considered the standard of greed and stubbornness.
Origin of the species and description
Photo: Bogomol
Praying mantises are not just a species, but an entire suborder of arthropod insects with many species, numbering up to two thousand. They all have the same habits and similar body structure, differing only in color, size and habitat. All praying mantises are predatory insects, absolutely ruthless and incredibly voracious, which slowly deal with their prey, enjoying the whole process.
Video: Praying Mantis
The praying mantis received its academic name back in the 18th century. The famous naturalist Carl Lynaeus gave this creature the name “Mantis religiosa” or “religious priest” due to the insect’s unusual posture while in ambush, which was similar to the posture of a praying person. In some countries, this strange insect has less euphonious names because of its creepy habits; for example, in Spain, the mantis is known as the “devil’s horse.”
The praying mantis is an ancient insect and there is still debate in the scientific community about its origin. Some believe that this species came from ordinary cockroaches, others have a different opinion, giving them a separate evolutionary path.
Interesting fact: One of the styles of Chinese martial arts Wushu is called praying mantis. An ancient legend says that a Chinese peasant came up with this style while watching the exciting battles of these predatory insects.
Precautionary measures
However, it should be remembered that an attack and bite from a praying mantis can pose a danger to children, especially young ones. Children, due to their curiosity and restlessness, can hunt these entertaining insects. An aggressive or frightened mantis may attack and harm the child:
- A child can be very frightened when attacked by a large insect with a rather frightening appearance.
- The mantis is more likely to injure thin children's skin than the skin of adults.
Therefore, while in nature, you should carefully look around so as not to accidentally disturb a praying mantis that is hunting or in the process of mating. It is necessary to explain to children that they should not grab insects and hunt them.
Appearance and features
Photo: What a praying mantis looks like
Almost all types of mantises have an elongated body of a special structure. The triangular, highly mobile head can rotate 360 degrees. The insect's compound eyes are located on the lateral edges of the head and have a complex structure; at the base of the whiskers there are three more ordinary eyes. The oral apparatus is of the gnawing type. The antennae may be filiform or comb-like, depending on the species.
The pronotum rarely overlaps the insect's head; the abdomen itself consists of ten segments. The last section of the abdomen ends with paired appendages of multiple segments, which are the organs of smell. The forelimbs are equipped with strong spines that help to capture prey. Almost all praying mantises have well-developed front and rear pairs of wings, thanks to which the insect can fly. The narrow, dense wings of the front pair protect the second pair of wings. The hind wings are wide with many membranes, folded in the form of a fan.
The color of the insect can be different: from dark brown to bright green and even pink-lilac, with a characteristic pattern and spots on the wings. There are very large individuals, reaching 14-16 cm in length, and there are also very small specimens up to 1 cm.
Particularly interesting species:
- The common mantis is the most common species. The size of the insect's body reaches 6-7 centimeters and has a green or brown color with a characteristic dark spot on the front legs on the inside;
- Chinese species - has very large sizes up to 15 cm, the colors are the same as those of ordinary mantises, and is distinguished by its nocturnal lifestyle;
- the spike-eyed mantis is an African giant that can disguise itself as dry twigs;
- orchid - the most beautiful of the species, got its name due to its similarity with the flower of the same name. Females grow up to 8 mm, males are half as large;
- flower Indian and spiny species - are distinguished by their bright coloring with a characteristic spot on the front wings in the form of an eye. They live in Asia and India and are small in size - only 30-40 mm.
Hot Summer
The appearance of mantises in the public domain is explained, on the one hand, by the fact that they had a favorable winter, and on the other, by the warm spring and hot summer.
— Insects reach the adult stage in July-August. It’s warm now, which is why southern insects have become so active and catch a person’s eye,” continues the entomologist.
The praying mantis usually hunts during the day, but you can also meet it at night - the insects willingly fly into artificial light. Green and brown praying mantises appear in photographs. This is the same species, clarifies Zhukov .
— The common praying mantis can be of two colors. The classic color is green, less often pink-brown. The appearance of insects depends on the substrate on which it lives.
Have you seen a praying mantis yet this year? Send photos to us on social networks “VKontakte”, “Odnoklassniki”, “Instagram”, “Telegram”.
Where does the praying mantis live?
Photo: Bogomol in Russia
The habitat of mantises is very extensive and covers many countries in Asia, Southern and Central Europe, Africa, and South America. There are numerous populations of mantises in Spain, Portugal, China, India, Greece, and Cyprus. Some species live in Belarus, Tatarstan, Germany, Azerbaijan, and Russia. Predatory insects were introduced to Australia and North America, where they also reproduce successfully.
In tropical and subtropical conditions, mantises live:
- in forests with high humidity;
- in rocky deserts warmed by the scorching sun.
In Europe, mantises are common in steppes and spacious meadows. These are heat-loving creatures that do not tolerate temperatures below 20 degrees very well. Recently, some areas of Russia have periodically been subjected to real invasions of praying mantises, which migrate from other countries in search of food.
Mantises change their habitat very rarely. Having chosen one tree or even a branch, they remain on it all their lives if there is enough food around. Insects actively move only during the mating season, in the presence of danger or in the absence of the required number of objects for hunting. Praying mantises thrive in terrariums. The most comfortable ambient temperature for them is 25-30 degrees with a humidity of at least 60 percent. They do not drink water, since they get everything they need from food. Under natural conditions, some more aggressive and powerful species can displace smaller ones, even to the point of complete extermination in a certain area.
Interesting fact: In a number of regions of South Asia, predatory mantises are specially bred in artificial conditions as an effective weapon against malaria mosquitoes and other insects that carry dangerous infectious diseases.
Now you know where the praying mantis lives. Let's find out what the insect eats.
What does a praying mantis eat?
Photo: Female praying mantis
Being a predator, the mantis feeds only on live food and never picks up carrion. These insects are very voracious and need to constantly hunt.
The main diet of adults is:
- other insects, such as mosquitoes, flies, beetles and bees, and the size of the prey may even exceed the size of the predator;
- large species are capable of attacking small amphibians, small birds and rodents;
- very often relatives, including their own offspring, become food.
Cannibalism among mantises is common, and spectacular fights between mantises break out very often.
Interesting fact: Larger and more aggressive females often eat their partners during mating. This happens due to a critical lack of protein necessary for the development of offspring. As a rule, at the very beginning of mating, the female bites off the male’s head, and after the process is completed, she eats him completely. If the female is not hungry, then the future father manages to retreat in time.
These predators do not chase their victims. With the help of their specific color, they effectively camouflage themselves among twigs or flowers and wait for the approach of their prey, rushing at them from ambush with lightning speed. Mantises grab prey with their powerful forelimbs, and then, pinching them between the thigh, equipped with spikes, and the lower leg, they slowly eat the still living creature. The special structure of the oral apparatus and powerful jaws make it possible to literally tear out pieces from the victim’s flesh.
origin of name
The name "mantis" comes from the posture they hold their front legs as if they are praying. Most species are green or brown in color so they can blend in with leaves and foliage, which allows them to patiently stalk insects such as flies and grasshoppers.
When the praying mantis is threatened by anything, it stands high, stretches out its front legs and wings like a fan, and opens its mouth wide. This defensive stance is used to appear larger so as to intimidate the opponent.
Moreover, some species have bright colors and patterns on the hind wings and the inner surfaces of the front legs for the same purpose. If pursuit from an intruder persists, the mantis may strike with its front legs, attempt to pinch, or bite.
- 17 amazing facts about the unusual insect Mantis
The strikes are as fast as the blink of an eye, after which he will slowly devour the unfortunate victim slowly with his ultra sharp jaws.
They do not bite people on purpose, do not damage home furnishings, and do not spread diseases. However, touching their spiny forelimbs can feel like a bite.
Praying mantises are beneficial insects. They eat various types of other insects that are harmful to humans.
Features of character and lifestyle
Photo: Insect mantis
Mantises are solitary predators that do not leave their usual place of residence or do so in exceptional cases: in search of places richer in food, fleeing from a stronger enemy. If males are able, if necessary, to fly over fairly long distances, then females, due to their larger size, do this extremely reluctantly. Not only do they not care for their offspring, but on the contrary, they can easily feast on them. Having laid eggs, the female completely forgets about them, perceiving the young generation exclusively as food.
These insects are distinguished by their agility, lightning-fast reaction, cruelty; they are capable of hunting and eating individuals twice their size. Females are especially aggressive. They do not tolerate defeat and will finish off their prey for a long time and purposefully. They hunt mainly during the day, and at night they quiet down among the foliage. Some species, such as the Chinese mantis, prefer a nocturnal lifestyle. All praying mantises are unsurpassed masters of camouflage; they easily disguise themselves as a dry twig or flower, merging with the foliage.
Interesting fact: In the mid-20th century, the Soviet Union developed a program to use praying mantises in agriculture as protection against harmful insects. This idea later had to be completely abandoned, since in addition to pests, mantises actively destroyed bees and other insects useful for farming.
Can be picked up
For the sake of a beautiful photo, people put a praying mantis on their hand. And that's okay. Insects are not afraid of people; they are often kept as pets and fed with small bugs using tweezers.
— Praying mantises are, of course, predators, but they do not pose a danger to humans. They won’t bite through the skin,” says the entomologist.
Mantises show their predatory nature almost from birth. They emerge from the egg and begin to actively feed on other insects. And not only them. A praying mantis larva may well snack on its sister. In adulthood, mantis cannibalism occurs during mating, when the female eats the male.
- They do this so that biological material does not disappear. In insects, the male still dies after mating, but here the consumption of nutrients and mating occur simultaneously,” says Ruslan .
Social structure and reproduction
Photo: Male praying mantis
Mantises live from two months to one year; in rare cases, some individuals exceed the mark of one and a half years, but only in artificially created conditions. Young animals are capable of reproduction within a couple of weeks after birth. During their lives, females participate in mating games twice; males often do not survive the first breeding season, which in mid-latitudes usually begins in August and ends in September, and in warmer climates can last almost the entire year.
The male attracts the female with his dance and the secretion of a specific sticky secretion, by the smell of which she recognizes it as her kind and does not attack. The mating process can last from 6 to 8 hours, as a result of which not every future father is lucky - more than half of them are eaten by a hungry partner. The female lays eggs from 100 to 300 at a time on the edges of leaves or on the bark of trees. During laying, it secretes a special liquid, which then hardens, forming a cocoon or ootheca to protect the offspring from external factors.
The egg stage can last from several weeks to six months, depending on the air temperature, after which larvae crawl out into the world, which in appearance are radically different from their parents. The first moult occurs immediately after hatching and there will be at least four of them before they look like their adult relatives. The larvae develop very quickly, and after hatching they begin to feed on small flies and mosquitoes.
The praying mantis is an insect from another planet, video
And in conclusion, we bring to your attention an interesting popular science film about praying mantises.
Common mantis
, or
religious mantis
(lat. Mantis religiosa) is an insect from the family of true mantises of the order Praying Mantis.
A large predatory insect with forelimbs well adapted for grasping food. Reaches 42-52 mm (male) or 48-75 mm (female) in length.
Mantis
- a well-known insect with a characteristic appearance, even residents of those places where mantises are not found usually have an idea of what this insect looks like. The praying mantis is quite popular due to its characteristic “alien” appearance.
It is often shown in popular science films about insects, and for some, the mantis is a real pet, just like a cat or dog. Perhaps someone else knows about the “mantis style” - a style of martial arts named after this insect.
The common praying mantis (lat. Mantis religiosa) is a large insect of the cockroach order, reaching 7 cm in females and 5 cm in males; in addition to the fact that females are longer than their gentlemen, they are also noticeably more massive. The color of the mantis is protective - green or brown - depending on the color of the plant it prefers to hide. The praying mantis is a typical ambush predator. The mantis spends most of its time hiding on a plant and waiting for prey.
The characteristic pose of a hidden praying mantis with folded front grasping legs is what gave this insect its unique name - the folded legs of a praying mantis resemble the hands of a praying person raised in supplication.
By the way, the same is true for the Latin species name of the common mantis - which consists of two words mantis, which is translated from Greek as “prophet” and the Latin word religios, which clearly means “religious.” Interestingly, mantises were spotted near the Holy Protection Goloseevskaya Hermitage, where Mother Alypia lived. The other two pairs of legs of the mantis are running; the mantis also has well-developed wings, but flies rather reluctantly; heavier females especially rarely rise into the air. Praying mantises are quite aggressive insects, sometimes attacking large insects of equal and sometimes greater size.
The color is protective, very variable, ranging from green or yellow to brown-gray or dark brown. The pronotum is of moderate length, the front legs are grasping, in addition to obtaining food, they are also used for movement. The hind legs are running. The wings are well developed in both males and females (although females, due to their impressive size, fly very poorly and reluctantly). The abdomen is ovoid, rather long.
A special feature of this species of mantis is its wide distribution: it lives throughout Southern Europe (south of the 55th parallel), Western and Central Asia, Africa, partly Southeast Asia and Australia (where it competes with related species). Introduced to the USA. In Crimea it is gradually replaced by the tree mantis (Hierodula Tenuidentata). Single finds were noted in the steppe and mining zones of the Southern Urals. This is the northern boundary of the species' range. Listed in the Red Book.
Females of some species may eat males during mating. After mating, the female lays from 10 to 400 eggs, which, like cockroaches, are packed into oothecae. Ootecae hang on the grass or on the branches of trees and shrubs. In regions with fairly cold winters, it is the oothecae that are the overwintering stage.
The praying mantis in the first larval stage has a worm-like shape, and after leaving the ooteca, it molts and acquires the characteristic appearance of a praying mantis.
The common mantis sometimes plays a useful role in agriculture as an exterminator of harmful insects (such as flies, mosquitoes or other agricultural pests). But the beneficial effects of mantises are compensated by the fact that they also destroy beneficial insects (bees, other beneficial entomophages).
The common mantis is an insect belonging to the family of true mantises. This is the most common representative of the species in Europe.
Natural enemies of praying mantises
Photo: What a praying mantis looks like
Under natural conditions, praying mantises have a lot of enemies:
- they can be eaten by many birds, rodents, including flying ones, and snakes;
- Among these insects, cannibalism is very common, eating their own offspring, as well as the young of others.
In the wild, you can sometimes watch quite spectacular battles between these aggressive insects, as a result of which one of the fighters will definitely be eaten. The lion's share of praying mantises die not from birds, snakes and other enemies, but from their own eternally hungry relatives.
Interesting fact: If a praying mantis is attacked by an enemy larger than it in size, it raises up and opens its lower wings, which have a pattern in the form of a large, terrifying eye. At the same time, the insect begins to loudly rustle its wings and make sharp clicking sounds, trying to scare the enemy. If the trick fails, the mantis either attacks or tries to fly away.
To protect and camouflage themselves from their enemies, praying mantises use the unusual coloration. They merge with surrounding objects; some species of these insects can literally turn into flower buds, for example, an orchid mantis, or into a small living twig, which can only be revealed by especially mobile antennae and head.
The benefits and harms of the praying mantis for humans
The praying mantis can benefit people, namely gardeners and gardeners. Living in the garden, it will eat aphids, beetles and other pests, thereby eliminating the need to spray plants with insect poison.
But there is a drawback to this: praying mantises consume both harmful and beneficial insects with the same appetite. Therefore, it is worth keeping in mind that as a result of his help, the number of bees and butterflies will most likely decrease.
As such, the praying mantis cannot cause harm to people. It is not poisonous, does not spoil the harvest, and does not spread infection. The only thing that the praying mantis is dangerous for humans is its teeth and spiny front legs.
Large individuals are capable of biting or piercing human skin, leaving painful wounds. But an attack by a praying mantis is only possible if it is disturbed.
Children should be especially careful with them. In defense, the praying mantis very quickly jumps on the offender, which can greatly frighten the child. But, as a rule, there are no serious consequences after its bite. Therefore, we can say that there is no great harm or particular benefit from mantises to humans.
