| Tarachodes afzelii | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Mantodea |
| Family: | Eremiaphilidae |
| Genus: | Tarachodes |
| Species: | T. afzelii |
| Binomial name | |
| Tarachodes afzelii | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Tarachodes afzelii, commonly known as the Tanzanian ground mantis, [2] is a species of praying mantis in the family Eremiaphilidae. [3] It is native to woodland in Western and Central Africa. [4]
Tarachodes afzelii protects itself using camouflage. It is an olive-brown or grey-brown colour, sometimes with dark bars or a dark midline, which makes it resemble the bark of the trees on which it lives. The body is flattened and held pressed against the surface of the trunk or branch so that its shadow does not give it away. Males have grey wings, which make them rather easier to detect, and females have vestigial wings and are unable to fly. [5] [6]
Tarachodes afzelii is native to Central and West Africa where it is found in the savannah woodlands that separate the rainforest from drier grassland. [5]
Most mantids do not guard their eggs or care for their young. The female Tarachodes afzelii lays a batch of up to two hundred eggs contained in a cryptically-coloured ootheca. She then broods the eggs by concealing the ootheca under her abdomen as she rests on the bark. She defends the eggs by driving away the tiny torymid wasps that try to lay their eggs inside the ootheca, and the ants and beetles that would like to feed on the eggs. Although the eggs can develop without the mother brooding them, the hatching success rate is much lower in unbrooded eggs. [5]
Remarkably, Tarachodes afzelii continues her care of her nymphs after they hatch out in about three weeks. [5] For about two days, they cluster round her, and gather together again in her vicinity after a disturbance. At this stage they are vulnerable to attack by jumping spiders, and ants of the genera Dorylus and Megaponera . It is conceivable that the female might catch prey and allow her offspring to consume it, but such behaviour has not been observed. [5]
The first and second instars are Batesian mimics of black ants, while bigger instars and adults, neither of which are ant mimics, are predators of those same ants. [6]
The Chinese mantis is a species of mantis native to Asia and the nearby islands. In 1896 this species was accidentally introduced by a nurseryperson 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.
Mantidae is one of the largest families in the order of praying mantises, based on the type species Mantis religiosa; however, most genera are tropical or subtropical. Historically, this was the only family in the order, and many references still use the term "mantid" to refer to any mantis. Technically, however, "mantid" refers only to members of the family Mantidae, and not the 14 remaining families of mantises. Some of the most recent classifications have promoted a number of the mantid subfamilies to the rank of family, e.g. Iridopterygidae, Sibyllidae, Tarachodidae, Thespidae, and Toxoderidae, while other classifications have reduced the number of subfamilies without elevating to higher rank.
An ootheca is a type of egg mass made by any member of a variety of species including mollusks, mantises, and cockroaches.
Eremiaphilidae is a small Old World family of praying mantids, based on the type genus Eremiaphila. As part of a major revision of mantid taxonomy, this family now contains the subfamily Tarachodinae, which includes tribes and genera previously placed in the now obsolete Tarachodidae.
Ant mimicry or myrmecomorphy is mimicry of ants by other organisms. Ants are abundant all over the world, and potential predators that rely on vision to identify their prey, such as birds and wasps, normally avoid them, because they are either unpalatable or aggressive. Spiders are the most common ant mimics. Additionally, some arthropods mimic ants to escape predation, while others mimic ants anatomically and behaviourally to hunt ants in aggressive mimicry. Ant mimicry has existed almost as long as ants themselves; the earliest ant mimics in the fossil record appear in the mid Cretaceous alongside the earliest ants. Indeed one of the earliest, Burmomyrma, was initially classified as an ant.
The burying mantis is a species of mantid native to Australia. They are white or brown and can reach lengths of up to some 40mm long, with distinct markings on the thorax and with a white blotch on the wings. They're called burying mantids because females dig holes in the ground, in which they lay their eggs and then refill the holes.
Phyllocrania paradoxa, common name ghost mantis, is a small species of mantis from Africa remarkable for its leaf-like body. It is one of the three species in the genus Phyllocrania. It is known for its distinct and exclusive camouflaged appearance of a dry weathered leaf.
Litaneutria minor, or the agile ground mantis, 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.
Pseudovates chlorophaea, with the common name Texas unicorn mantis, is a species of praying mantis in the family Mantidae. It is native to the southern United States, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.
Deroplatys lobata, common name Southeast Asian dead leaf mantis or dead leaf mantis, is a species of praying mantis that inhabits Thailand, Java, Borneo, Indonesia, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula.
Idolomantis is a genus of praying mantises in the family Empusidae. It is represented by a 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
Pseudoharpax virescens, common name Gambian spotted-eye flower mantis, is a species of praying mantis native to western, central and eastern Africa. It takes its name from two eye spots on the dorsal side of the abdomen of adult females.
Orthodera novaezealandiae, known as the New Zealand mantis or the 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.
The bark mantises and ground mantises are praying mantids now placed in the family Eremiaphilidae that are native to the Afrotropics. They are generally light brown but more silvery on the wings. The wings are attractively reticulated, and the veins may be mottled dark and pale. The head is wider than the pronotum, which is rounded anteriorly, and doesn't overlap with the rear of the head. The pronotum is depressed, with its sides more or less parallel, and only a weak supra-coxal bulge is present. The anterior tibia are flattened and greatly expanded longitudinally, and the tibial claw does not fit into a pit between the 1st and 2nd external spines of the anterior femora, as in a few mantis groups.
Acanthops falcata, common name South American dead leaf mantis or boxer mantis, is a species of praying mantis in the subfamily Acanthopinae of the family Acanthopidae and is one of many praying mantises from various genera that resembles a dead leaf.
Tarachodes maurus is a species of praying mantis in the family Eremiaphilidae. It was first described by the Swiss entomologist Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure in 1871. It has been placed in either subgenus Chiropacha or subgenus Tarachodes.
Tarachodes obtusiceps is a species of praying mantis in the family Eremiaphilidae described by Carl Stål in 1871.
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.
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