Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They have triangular heads with bulging eyes supported on flexible necks. Their elongated bodies may or may not have wings, but all Mantodea have forelegs that are greatly enlarged and adapted for catching and gripping prey; their upright posture, while remaining stationary with forearms folded, has led to the common name praying mantis.
The closest relatives of mantises are termites and cockroaches (Blattodea), which are all within the superorderDictyoptera. Mantises are sometimes confused with stick insects (Phasmatodea), other elongated insects such as grasshoppers (Orthoptera), or other more distantly related insects with raptorial forelegs such as mantisflies (Mantispidae). Mantises are mostly ambush predators, but a few ground-dwelling species are found actively pursuing their prey. They normally live for about a year. In cooler climates, the adults lay eggs in autumn, then die. The eggs are protected by their hard capsules and hatch in the spring. Females sometimes practice sexual cannibalism, eating their mates after copulation.
The name mantodea is formed from the Ancient Greek words μάντις (mantis) meaning "prophet", and εἶδος (eidos) meaning "form" or "type". It was coined in 1838 by the German entomologist Hermann Burmeister.[1][2] The name "mantid" properly refers only to members of the family Mantidae, which was, historically, the only family in the order. The other common name, praying mantis, applied to any species in the order[3] (though in Europe mainly to Mantis religiosa), comes from the typical "prayer-like" posture with folded forelimbs.[4][5] The vernacular plural "mantises" (used in this article) was confined largely to the US, with "mantids" predominantly used as the plural in the UK and elsewhere, until the family Mantidae was further split in 2002; at present, only some 80 out of 430 known genera are mantids, the rest are in other families.[6][7]
Over 2,400 species of mantis in about 430 genera are recognized.[8] They are predominantly found in tropical regions, but some live in temperate areas.[9][10] The systematics of mantises have long been disputed. Mantises, along with stick insects (Phasmatodea), were once placed in the order Orthoptera with the cockroaches (now Blattodea) and ice crawlers (now Grylloblattodea). Kristensen (1991) combined the Mantodea with the cockroaches and termites into the order Dictyoptera, suborder Mantodea.[11][12]
Phylogeny
External
Evolutionary relationships based on Evangelista et al. 2019 are shown in the cladogram:[13]
One of the earliest classifications splitting an all-inclusive Mantidae into multiple families was that proposed by Beier in 1968, recognizing eight families,[14] though it was not until Ehrmann's reclassification into 15 families in 2002[7] that a multiple-family classification became universally adopted. Klass, in 1997, studied the external male genitalia and postulated that the families Chaeteessidae and Metallyticidae diverged from the other families at an early date.[15] However, as previously configured, the Mantidae and Thespidae especially were considered polyphyletic,[16] so the Mantodea have been revised substantially as of 2019 and now includes 29 families.[17]
Life restoration of Santanmantis, a primitive fossil mantis known from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil, and one of the oldest members of the group
Mantises are thought to have evolved from cockroach-like ancestors.[19] The earliest confidently identified mantis fossils date to the Early Cretaceous.[16] Fossils of the group are rare: by 2022, 37 fossil species are known.[16][20] Fossil mantises, including one from Japan with spines on the front legs as in modern mantises, have been found in Cretaceous amber.[21] Most fossils in amber are nymphs; compression fossils (in rock) include adults. Fossil mantises from the Crato Formation in Brazil include the 10mm (0.39in) long Santanmantis axelrodi, described in 2003; as in modern mantises, the front legs were adapted for catching prey. Well-preserved specimens yield details as small as 5 μm through X-ray computed tomography.[16] Extinct families and genera include:
Because of the superficially similar raptorialforelegs, mantidflies may be confused with mantises, though they are unrelated. Their similarity is an example of convergent evolution; mantidflies do not have tegmina (leathery forewings) like mantises, their antennae are shorter and less thread-like, and the raptorial tibia is more muscular than that of a similar-sized mantis and bends back farther in preparation for shooting out to grasp prey.[22]
The raptorial foreleg, showing the unusually long coxa, which, together with the trochanter, gives the impression of a femur. The femur itself is the proximal segment of the grasping part of the leg.
Mantis moving on a wall.
Mantises have large, triangular heads with a beak-like snout and mandibles. They have two bulbous compound eyes, three small simple eyes, and a pair of antennae. The articulation of the neck is also remarkably flexible; some species of mantis can rotate their heads nearly 180°.[5] The mantis thorax consists of a prothorax, a mesothorax, and a metathorax. In all species apart from the genus Mantoida, the prothorax, which bears the head and forelegs, is much longer than the other two thoracic segments. The prothorax is also flexibly articulated, allowing for a wide range of movements of the head and fore limbs while the remainder of the body remains more or less immobile.[23][24] Mantises also are unique to the Dictyoptera in that they have tympanate hearing, with two tympana in an auditory chamber in their metathorax. Most mantises can only hear ultrasound.[25]
Mantises have two spiked, grasping forelegs ("raptorial legs") in which prey items are caught and held securely. In most insect legs, including the posterior four legs of a mantis, the coxa and trochanter combine as an inconspicuous base of the leg; in the raptorial legs, however, the coxa and trochanter combine to form a segment about as long as the femur, which is a spiky part of the grasping apparatus (see illustration). Located at the base of the femur is a set of discoidal spines, usually four in number, but ranging from none to as many as five depending on the species. These spines are preceded by a number of tooth-like tubercles, which, along with a similar series of tubercles along the tibia and the apical claw near its tip, give the foreleg of the mantis its grasp on its prey. The foreleg ends in a delicate tarsus used as a walking appendage, made of four or five segments and ending in a two-toed claw with no arolium.[23][26]
Mantises can be loosely categorized as being macropterous (long-winged), brachypterous (short-winged), micropterous (vestigial-winged), or apterous (wingless). If not wingless, a mantis has two sets of wings: the outer wings, or tegmina, are usually narrow and leathery. They function as camouflage and as a shield for the hindwings, which are clearer and more delicate.[23][27] The abdomen of all mantises consists of 10 tergites, with a corresponding set of nine sternites visible in males and seven visible in females. The abdomen tends to be slimmer in males than females, but ends in a pair of cerci in both sexes.[23]
Mantises have stereo vision.[28][29][30] They locate their prey by sight; their compound eyes contain up to 10,000 ommatidia. A small area at the front called the fovea has greater visual acuity than the rest of the eye, and can produce the high resolution necessary to examine potential prey. The peripheral ommatidia are concerned with perceiving motion; when a moving object is noticed, the head is rapidly rotated to bring the object into the visual field of the fovea. Further motions of the prey are then tracked by movements of the mantis's head so as to keep the image centered on the fovea.[26][31] The use of stereoscopic vision differs from humans or primates because they specifically utilize this vision for capturing and spotting prey. [32] The eyes are widely spaced and laterally situated, affording a wide binocular field of vision and precise stereoscopic vision at close range.[33] The dark spot on each eye that moves as it rotates its head is a pseudopupil. This occurs because the ommatidia that are viewed "head-on" absorb the incident light, while those to the side reflect it.[34]
As their hunting relies heavily on vision, mantises are primarily diurnal. Many species, however, fly at night, and then may be attracted to artificial lights. They have good night vision.[35] Mantises in the family Liturgusidae collected at night have been shown to be predominately males;[36] this is probably true for most mantises. Nocturnal flight is especially important to males in locating less-mobile females by detecting their pheromones. Flying at night exposes mantises to fewer bird predators than diurnal flight would. Many mantises also have an auditory thoracic organ that helps them avoid bats by detecting their echolocation calls and responding evasively.[37][38]
Mantises are generalist predators of arthropods.[9] The majority of mantises are ambush predators that only feed upon live prey within their reach. They either camouflage themselves and remain stationary, waiting for prey to approach, or stalk their prey with slow, stealthy movements.[39] Larger mantises sometimes eat smaller individuals of their own species,[40] as well as small vertebrates such as lizards, frogs, fish, and particularly small birds.[41][42][43]
Most mantises stalk tempting prey if it strays close enough, and will go further when they are especially hungry.[44] Once within reach, mantises strike rapidly to grasp the prey with their spiked raptorial forelegs.[45] Some ground and bark species pursue their prey in a more active way. For example, members of a few genera such as the ground mantises Entella, Ligaria, and Ligariella run over dry ground seeking prey, much as tiger beetles do.[23] Some mantis species such as Euantissa pulchra can discriminate between different types of prey, and approached spiders mimicking non-aggressive ant species much more than spiders that mimicked aggressive ant species.[46]
The fore gut of some species extends the whole length of the insect and can be used to store prey for digestion later. This may be advantageous in an insect that feeds intermittently.[47]Chinese mantises live longer, grow faster, and produce more young when they are able to eat pollen.[48]
Mantises are preyed on by vertebrates such as frogs, lizards, and birds, and by invertebrates such as spiders, large species of hornets[broken anchor], and ants.[49] Some hunting wasps, such as some species of Tachytes also paralyze some species of mantis to feed their young.[50] Generally, mantises protect themselves by camouflage, most species being cryptically colored to resemble foliage or other backgrounds, both to avoid predators and to better snare their prey.[51] Those that live on uniformly colored surfaces such as bare earth or tree bark are dorsoventrally flattened so as to eliminate shadows that might reveal their presence.[52] The species from different families called flower mantises are aggressive mimics: they resemble flowers convincingly enough to attract prey that come to collect pollen and nectar.[53][54][55] Some species in Africa and Australia are able to turn black after a molt towards the end of the dry season; at this time of year, bush fires occur and this coloration enables them to blend in with the fire-ravaged landscape (fire melanism).[52]
When directly threatened, many mantis species stand tall and spread their forelegs, with their wings fanning out wide. The fanning of the wings makes the mantis seem larger and more threatening, with some species enhancing this effect with bright colors and patterns on their hindwings and inner surfaces of their front legs. If harassment persists, a mantis may strike with its forelegs and attempt to pinch or bite. As part of the bluffing (deimatic) threat display, some species may also produce a hissing sound by expelling air from the abdominal spiracles. Mantises lack chemical protection, so their displays are largely bluff. When flying at night, at least some mantises are able to detect the echolocation sounds produced by bats; when the frequency begins to increase rapidly, indicating an approaching bat, they stop flying horizontally and begin a descending spiral toward the safety of the ground, often preceded by an aerial loop or spin. If caught, they may slash captors with their raptorial legs.[52][56][57]
Mantises, like stick insects, show rocking behavior in which the insect makes rhythmic, repetitive side-to-side movements. Functions proposed for this behavior include the enhancement of crypsis by means of the resemblance to vegetation moving in the wind. However, the repetitive swaying movements may be most important in allowing the insects to discriminate objects from the background by their relative movement, a visual mechanism typical of animals with simpler sight systems. Rocking movements by these generally sedentary insects may replace flying or running as a source of relative motion of objects in the visual field.[58] As ants may be predators of mantises, genera such as Loxomantis, Orthodera, and Statilia, like many other arthropods, avoid attacking them. A variety of arthropods, including some early-instar mantises, exploit this behavior and mimic ants to evade their predators.[59]
The grass mantis Schizocephala bicornis mimics dry grass to both avoid predators and to approach unwitting prey
Reproduction and life history
Praying mantis nymphs emerging from their ootheca.
The mating season in temperate climates typically takes place in autumn,[60][61] while in tropical areas, mating can occur at any time of the year.[61] To mate following courtship, the male usually leaps onto the female's back, clasping her thorax and wing bases with his forelegs. He then arches his abdomen to deposit and store sperm in a special chamber near the tip of the female's abdomen. The female lays between 10 and 400 eggs, depending on the species. Eggs are typically deposited in a froth mass-produced by glands in the abdomen. This froth hardens, creating a protective capsule, which together with the egg mass is called an ootheca. Depending on the species, the ootheca can be attached to a flat surface, wrapped around a plant, or even deposited in the ground.[60] Despite the versatility and durability of the eggs, they are often preyed on, especially by several species of parasitoid wasps. In a few species, mostly ground and bark mantises in the family Tarachodidae, the mother guards the eggs.[60] The cryptic Tarachodes maurus positions herself on bark with her abdomen covering her egg capsule, ambushing passing prey and moving very little until the eggs hatch.[11] An unusual reproductive strategy is adopted by Brunner's stick mantis from the southern United States: no males have ever been found in this species, and the females breed parthenogenetically.[9] The ability to reproduce by parthenogenesis has been recorded in at least two other species, Sphodromantis viridis and Miomantis sp., although these species usually reproduce sexually.[62][63][64] In temperate climates, adults do not survive the winter and the eggs undergo a diapause, hatching in the spring.[12]
As in closely related insect groups in the superorder Dictyoptera, mantises go through three life stages: egg, nymph, and adult (mantises are among the hemimetabolous insects). For smaller species, the eggs may hatch in 3–4 weeks as opposed to 4–6 weeks for larger species. The nymphs may be colored differently from the adult, and the early stages are often mimics of ants. A mantis nymph grows bigger as it molts its exoskeleton. Molting can happen five to 10 times before the adult stage is reached, depending on the species. After the final molt, most species have wings, though some species remain wingless or brachypterous ("short-winged"), particularly in the female sex. The lifespan of a mantis depends on the species; smaller ones may live 4–8 weeks, while larger species may live 4–6 months.[9][24]
Sexual cannibalism is common among most predatory species of mantises in captivity. It has sometimes been observed in natural populations, where about a quarter of male–female encounters result in the male being eaten by the female.[65][66][67] Around 90% of the predatory species of mantises exhibit sexual cannibalism.[68] Adult males typically outnumber females at first, but their numbers may be fairly equivalent later in the adult stage,[12] possibly because females selectively eat the smaller males.[69] In Tenodera sinensis, 83% of males escape cannibalism after an encounter with a female, but since multiple matings occur, the probability of a male's being eaten increases cumulatively.[66]
The female may begin feeding by biting off the male's head (as they do with regular prey), and if mating has begun, the male's movements may become even more vigorous in its delivery of sperm. Early researchers thought that because copulatory movement is controlled by a ganglion in the abdomen, not the head, removal of the male's head was a reproductive strategy by females to enhance fertilization while obtaining sustenance. Later, this behavior appeared to be an artifact of intrusive laboratory observation. Whether the behavior is natural in the field or also the result of distractions caused by the human observer remains controversial. Mantises are highly visual organisms and notice any disturbance in the laboratory or field, such as bright lights or moving scientists. Chinese mantises that had been fed ad libitum (so that they were not hungry) actually displayed elaborate courtship behavior when left undisturbed. The male engages the female in a courtship dance, to change her interest from feeding to mating.[70] Under such circumstances, the female has been known to respond with a defensive deimatic display by flashing the colored eyespots on the inside of her front legs.[71]
The reason for sexual cannibalism has been debated; experiments show that females on poor diets are likelier to engage in sexual cannibalism than those on good diets.[72] Some hypothesize that submissive males gain a selective advantage by producing offspring; this is supported by a quantifiable increase in the duration of copulation among males which are cannibalized, in some cases doubling both the duration and the chance of fertilization. This is contrasted by a study where males were seen to approach hungry females with more caution, and were shown to remain mounted on hungry females for a longer time, indicating that males that actively avoid cannibalism may mate with multiple females. The same study also found that hungry females generally attracted fewer males than those that were well fed.[73] The act of dismounting after copulation is dangerous for males, for it is the time that females most frequently cannibalize their mates. An increase in mounting duration appears to indicate that males wait for an opportune time to dismount a hungry female, who would be likely to cannibalize her mate.[71] Experiments have revealed that the sex ratio in an environment determines male copulatory behavior of Mantis religiosa which in turn affects the cannibalistic tendencies of the female and support the sperm competition hypothesis because the polyandrous treatment recorded the highest copulation duration time and lowest cannibalism. This further suggests that dismounting the female can make males susceptible to cannibalism.[74]
One of the earliest mantis references is in the ancient Chinese dictionary Erya, which gives its attributes in poetry, where it represents courage and fearlessness, and a brief description. A later text, the Jingshi Zhenglei Daguan Bencao[zh] (transl."Great History of Medical Material Annotated and Arranged by Types, Based upon the Classics and Historical Works") from 1108, gives accurate details of the construction of the egg packages, the development cycle, anatomy, and the function of the antennae. Although mantises are rarely mentioned in Ancient Greek sources, a female mantis in threat posture is accurately illustrated on a series of fifth-century BC silver coins, including didrachms, from Metapontum in Lucania.[75] In the 10th century AD, Byzantine era Adages, Suidas describes an insect resembling a slow-moving green locust with long front legs.[76] He translates Zenobius 2.94 with the words seriphos (maybe a mantis) and graus, an old woman, implying a thin, dried-up stick of a body.[77]
Mantises are a common motif in Luna Polychrome ceramics of pre-Columbian Nicaragua, and are believed to represent a deity or spirit called "Madre Culebra".[78]
Western descriptions of the biology and morphology of the mantises became more accurate in the 18th century. Roesel von Rosenhof illustrated and described mantises and their cannibalistic behavior in the Insekten-Belustigungen (Insect Entertainments).[79]
In the early 1900s, people in the United States Ozarks region referred to them as Devil's horses.[80]
Aldous Huxley made philosophical observations about the nature of death while two mantises mated in the sight of two characters in his 1962 novel Island (the species was Gongylus gongylodes). The naturalist Gerald Durrell's humorously autobiographical 1956 book My Family and Other Animals includes a four-page account of an almost evenly matched battle between a mantis and a gecko. Shortly before the fatal dénouement, Durrell narrates:
he [Geronimo the gecko] crashed into the mantis and made her reel, and grabbed the underside of her thorax in his jaws. Cicely [the mantis] retaliated by snapping both her front legs shut on Geronimo's hindlegs. They rustled and staggered across the ceiling and down the wall, each seeking to gain some advantage.[81]
M. C. Escher's woodcut Dream depicts a human-sized mantis standing on a sleeping bishop.[82]
Two martial arts separately developed in China have movements and fighting strategies based on those of the mantis.[90][91] As one of these arts was developed in northern China, and the other in southern parts of the country, the arts are today referred to (both in English and Chinese) as 'Northern Praying Mantis'[92] and 'Southern Praying Mantis'.[91] Both are very popular in China, and have also been exported to the West in recent decades.[91][92][93][94]
In mythology and religion
According to local beliefs in Africa, this insect brings good luck.[95] The mantis was revered by the southern African Khoi and San in whose cultures man and nature were intertwined; for its praying posture, the mantis was even named Hottentotsgot ("god of the Hottentots") in the Afrikaans language that had developed among the first European settlers.[96] However, at least for the San, the mantis was only one of the manifestations of a trickster-deity, ǀKaggen, who could assume many other forms, such as a snake, hare or vulture.[97] Several ancient civilizations did consider the insect to have supernatural powers; for the Greeks, it had the ability to show lost travelers the way home; in the Ancient EgyptianBook of the Dead, the "bird-fly" is a minor god that leads the souls of the dead to the underworld; in a list of 9th-century BC Nineveh grasshoppers (buru), the mantis is named necromancer (buru-enmeli) and soothsayer (buru-enmeli-ashaga).[79][98] Some pre-Columbian cultures in western Nicaragua have preserved oral traditions of the mantis as "Madre Culebra", a powerful predator and symbol of female symbolic authority.[78]
Mantises are among the insects most widely kept as pets.[99][100] Because the lifespan of a mantis is only about a year, people who want to keep mantises often breed them. In 2013 at least 31 species were kept and bred in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States.[101] In 1996 at least 50 species were known to be kept in captivity by members of the Mantis Study Group.[102]
For pest control
Naturally occurring mantis populations provide plant pest control.[103] Gardeners who prefer to avoid pesticides may encourage mantises in the hope of controlling insect pests.[104] However, mantises do not have key attributes of biological pest control agents; they do not specialize in a single pest insect, and do not multiply rapidly in response to an increase in such a prey species, but are general predators. They therefore have "negligible value" in biological control.[104]
Two species, the Chinese mantis and the European mantis, were deliberately introduced to North America in the hope that they would serve as pest controls for agriculture; they have spread widely in both the United States and Canada.[105]
In 2016, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence had produced a prototype robot inspired by the forelegs of the praying mantis, with front legs that allow the robot to walk, climb steps, and grasp objects. The multi-jointed leg provides dexterity via a rotatable joint. Future models may include a more spiked foreleg to improve the grip and ability to support more weight.[106]
The Carolina mantis is a species of praying mantis of the subfamily Stagmomantinae.
The Chinese mantis is a species of mantis native to Asia and the nearby islands. In 1896, this species was accidentally introduced by a nursery tender at Mt. Airy near Philadelphia, United States. Tenodera sinensis often is erroneously referred to as Tenodera aridifolia sinensis because it was at first described as a subspecies of Tenodera aridifolia, but Tenodera sinensis is now established as a full species.
The European mantis is a large hemimetabolic insect in the family of the Mantidae ('mantids'), which is the largest family of the order Mantodea (mantises). Their common name praying mantis is derived from the distinctive posture of the first pair of legs that can be observed in animals in repose. It resembles a praying attitude. Both males and females have elongated bodies with two pairs of wings. The most striking features that all Mantodea share are a very mobile, triangular head with large compound eyes and their first pair of legs, which is highly modified for the efficient capture and restraint of fast-moving or flying prey.
Miomantis caffra is a species of praying mantis native to southern Africa. It appeared in New Zealand in 1978, and was found more recently in Portugal and Los Angeles, USA, likely spread through the exotic pet trade. Females are facultatively parthenogenetic and unmated females can produce viable offspring.
Mantispidae, known commonly as mantidflies, mantispids, mantid lacewings, mantisflies or mantis-flies, is a family of small to moderate-sized insects in the order Neuroptera. There are many genera with around 400 species worldwide, especially in the tropics and subtropics. Only five species of Mantispa occur in Europe. As their names suggest, members of the group possess raptorial forelimbs similar to those of the praying mantis, a case of convergent evolution.
Hymenopus coronatus is a mantis from the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is known by various common names, including walking flower mantis, orchid-blossom mantis and (pink) orchid mantis. It is one of several species known as flower mantis, a reference to their unique physical form and behaviour, which often involves moving with a “swaying” motion, as if being “blown” in the breeze. Several species have evolved to mimic orchid flowers as a hunting and camouflaging strategy, “hiding” themselves in plain view and preying upon pollinating insects that visit the blooms. They are known to grab their prey with blinding speed.
Hierodula membranacea is a large praying mantis, sharing its common name giant Asian mantis with other large members of genus Hierodula: of which it is the type species. Its colours vary from green to yellow-green, or even brown to reddish-brown, similar to those of the giant Indian mantis and the giant Malaysian mantis. As the name suggests, it originates from south-eastern Asia and is among the largest of mantises. Male and female adults reach around 7–9 centimetres (2.8–3.5 in), excluding extended forelegs. It is a cannibalistic species, with the females sometimes eating the males after mating.
Iris oratoria, known by the common name Mediterranean mantis, due to humans first studying it in lands around the Mediterranean Sea, is a species of praying mantis. Its range is expanding in the Middle East, Western Asia and the United States.
Sexual cannibalism is when an animal, usually the female, cannibalizes its mate prior to, during, or after copulation. This trait is observed in many arachnid orders, several insect and crustacean clades, gastropods, and some snake species. Several hypotheses to explain this seemingly paradoxical behavior have been proposed, including the adaptive foraging hypothesis, aggressive spillover hypothesis and mistaken identity hypothesis. This behavior is believed to have evolved as a manifestation of sexual conflict, occurring when the reproductive interests of males and females differ. In many species that exhibit sexual cannibalism, the female consumes the male upon detection. Females of cannibalistic species are generally hostile and unwilling to mate; thus many males of these species have developed adaptive behaviors to counteract female aggression.
Litaneutria minor, or the agile ground mantis or minor ground mantid, is native to the drier regions of North America. L. minor is found in the United States in Colorado, Arizona to Mexico, and the eastern regions of Washington to California. They also can be found in Canada in the southern Okanagan Valley and are Canada's only native mantis. They are very active hunters and will be seen running across the ground from early spring to late summer.
Sphodromantis viridis is a species of praying mantis that is kept worldwide as a pet. Its common names include African mantis, giant African mantis, and bush mantis.
Ameles decolor is a species of small praying mantis native to the west Mediterranean and North Africa. A. decolor was first described by entomologist Domenico Cyrillo in 1787, and its current classification was established in 1976 by Karl Harz and Alfred Peter Kaltenbach. A. decolor presents as a small, light brown mantis with females tending to appear larger than their male counterparts. The mating patterns of A. decolor are considered some of the most complex amongst praying mantises, with males presenting two different styles of courtship. Their habitat favours shrublands, grasslands, and wooded areas.
Idolomantis is a monotypic genus of praying mantises in the family Empusidae. It contains the single species, Idolomantis diabolica, commonly known as the devil's flower mantis or giant devil's flower mantis. It is one of the largest species of praying mantises, and is possibly the largest that mimics flowers.
Sphodromantis lineola, common name African mantis or African praying mantis, is a species of praying mantis from Africa sometimes raised in captivity. S. lineola is often colored green, however they can also be colored different types of brown. The brown colored individuals have also been observed with purple colored eyes. It may be distinguished from S. baccettii by the absence of blue-black spots on its forearms.
Empusa pennata, or the conehead mantis, is a species of praying mantis in genus Empusa native to the Mediterranean Region. It can be found in Portugal, Spain, southern France, Italy and on the mediterranean coasts of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Turkey and Egypt. Because of its cryptic nature, or also possibly because of its fragmented, low-density populations, it is rarely encountered in the wild.
Orthodera novaezealandiae, known as the New Zealand mantis or New Zealand praying mantis, is a species of praying mantis which is, as both the scientific name and common names suggest, indigenous and endemic to New Zealand.
Empusa fasciata is a species of praying mantis in the genus Empusa in the order Mantodea.
Tarachodes afzelii, commonly known as the Tanzanian ground mantis, is a species of praying mantis in the family Eremiaphilidae. It is native to woodland in Western and Central Africa.
Gerris buenoi is a species of water strider that belongs to the family Gerridae. It was first identified in 1911 and is native to continental USA and Canada. Individuals of this species are small in size and have modified appendages, allowing them to float and "skate" along the surface of the water. G. buenoi can be found near the shoreline of freshwater ponds and small lakes, where they hunt for terrestrial insects that have fallen into the water.
Podagrion mantis was first described in 1886 by W.H. Ashmead and was the first species of its genus to have been described from the United States. All species in the genus are parasitoid wasps known only to parasitize mantids. They have been observed most often utilizing the egg case (ootheca) of Stagmomantis carolina, but have also been reported to choose S.limbata or Tenodera angustipennis as hosts, showing a high degree of specialization.
1 2 3 4 Hurd, I. E. (1999). "Ecology of Praying Mantids". In Prete, Fredrick R.; Wells, Harrington; Wells, Patrick H.; Hurd, Lawrence E. (eds.). The Praying Mantids. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp.43–49. ISBN978-0-8018-6174-1.
↑ Hurd, I. E. (1999). "Mantid in Ecological Research". In Prete, Fredrick R.; Wells, Harrington; Wells, Patrick H.; Hurd, Lawrence E. (eds.). The Praying Mantids. Johns Hopkins University Press. p.231. ISBN978-0-8018-6174-1.
↑ Boyden, Thomas C. (1983). "Mimicry, predation and potential pollination by the mantispid, Climaciella brunnea var. instabilis (Say) (Mantispidae: Neuroptera)". Journal of the New York Entomological Society. 91 (4): 508–511. JSTOR25009393.
1 2 3 4 5 Roy, Roger (1999). "Morphology and Taxonomy". In Prete, Fredrick R.; Wells, Harrington; Wells, Patrick H.; Hurd, Lawrence E. (eds.). The Praying Mantids. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp.21–33. ISBN978-0-8018-6174-1.
↑ Bragg, P.E. (2010). "A review of the Liturgusidae of Borneo (Insecta: Mantodea)". Sepilok Bulletin. 12: 21–36.
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