At first glance, the praying mantis is an absolutely harmless insect. Fragile, thin, invisible in the grass and on tree branches. But it's not what it seems. First of all, it is almost clear to everyone that it was called that because of its front legs prayerfully folded. He can sit in his position for hours, but there is no need to be deceived, the praying mantis insect is a formidable predator. He attacks victims much larger than himself. Mantises are known to fight with large spiders and even snakes! You can’t help but wonder if people made a mistake with the name?
Compared to its relatives, this is quite major representative of his class. Individual individuals can reach 76 millimeters in length and even more. Females are usually larger than males. If the size is the same, then it is quite difficult to determine the sex of individuals before adulthood.
They mimic perfectly. There are species that are very similar to flowers, others can easily get lost in the leaves, and all with one purpose - to waylay a suitable victim! They are not at all dangerous for people. The only way a praying mantis insect can harm a person is by scratching a finger with the jagged edges of its front legs if handled carelessly.
People who see them for the first time simply do not believe that this is a creature at first earthly origin. It's very unusual appearance and his whole alien appearance. And, of course, it is very difficult to realize that this is a formidable predator. It is not always possible to clearly distinguish the appearance of such a small creature as a praying mantis. The insect (its photo can fascinate anyone) seems to be dancing a strange ritual dance.
Some people even keep them at home because they are not too difficult to care for. The insect will need to change housing several times. At first, a yogurt container will do just fine, but later you will have to find a larger “apartment” for him. Throughout its life, the praying mantis insect sheds its skin, increasing in size.
You must remember to feed him on time, and there should always be branches in his home on which he can hang, this is especially important during periods of molting. But he doesn’t need to drink - he just needs to provide sufficient air humidity.
If you decide to breed different-sex individuals, then you need, firstly, to prepare a large cage, and secondly, a sufficient amount of food. Otherwise, the larger female may eat the male after mating. It can happen as soon as the individuals are together or over the next few days. After the end of the mating period, the male must be resettled again.
In due time, the female lays from 30 to 300 eggs, from which new individuals will hatch in a few months. To prevent cannibalism among newborns, you need to put them in a large container with plenty of secret corners and live food. After the second or third molt, they all need to be seated.
The praying mantis insect, unlike most of its fellows, has a number of unique skills. In addition to excellent mimicry abilities, he can turn his head almost 180 degrees in different directions and even look over his shoulder. By the way, females, unlike males, cannot fly, although representatives of both sexes have wings. They are simply too heavy to fly.
Muscovites will remember the summer of 2016 not only for the torrential rains, but also for the fact that on the streets big city Mantises suddenly appeared. Green insects, which were previously unheard of in the capital, can now be seen everywhere.
“This is due to warming, rising air temperatures. Remember what the weather was like just recently. But the heat is more than suitable for them. And in principle, they appear in other places where they did not exist before—mantises can be found more and more often in the north. The area is shifting, and this is the result of gradual climate change,” said AiF.ru Candidate of Biological Sciences, Associate Professor, Entomologist Yuri Gninenko.
1. The praying mantis was so named because of the structure of its legs.
Mantises got their name thanks to a Swedish naturalist. Carl Linnaeus. When this learned man saw the insect, it seemed to him that it was communicating with the Lord. The fact is that the insect folded its front limbs in the same way as believers clasp their hands in prayer. The insect also shakes its head, as if muttering something. Therefore, Linnaeus decided to call his “discovery” Mantis religiosa, that is, “religious prophet”. In the Russian tradition, the insect began to be called a praying mantis.
Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Přemysl Málek
2. The female praying mantis bites off the male's head.
Female praying mantises are significantly larger than males. In 50% of cases they eat males after mating. At the same time, sometimes the female bites off the head of her gentleman right during intercourse, which, however, does not prevent him from successfully completing sexual intercourse. This behavior of young ladies is due to the fact that at the early stage of egg development they need a lot of protein. And the male is precisely the closest and most reliable source of it.
3. Mantis eggs are not afraid of either frost or pesticides.
Praying mantises lay eggs in special protective capsules called oothecae. They represent a complex protein material that will allow the insect offspring to survive not only in extreme conditions low temperatures, but also under the influence of pesticides. In some cultures around the world, praying mantis eggs are used as natural remedies to increase male potency.
4. Praying mantises are predators.
Praying mantises feed exclusively on live food - they need it to wiggle and resist. They mainly hunt insect pests. So mantises help us save the harvest. However, a really hungry insect is not particularly picky and can also attack frogs, lizards, snakes, mice, etc.
5. Praying mantises are excellent at camouflage.
Mantises are masters of camouflage. Depending on the environment, they can be both green and brown colors. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to spot praying mantises among the foliage or on the bark of a tree. With each molt, these insects acquire a color that will best match surrounding nature. It is extremely difficult for the victim to see mantises in time, since they may not move for hours, but they are the only insects that have the ability to rotate their heads in different directions and even look over their shoulders.
6. Praying mantises are not dangerous to humans.
Mantises are often kept as pets and are not dangerous to humans. However, it is not recommended to deliberately tease and irritate the insect - after all, it is a predator. If he decides that you pose a danger to him, he may well bite. The bite, of course, will be non-lethal, but very painful.
7. One of the fighting styles was named after the praying mantis.
In Chinese Wushu, the most popular style is the praying mantis style. Once a legendary martial arts teacher Wang Lan created this very simple and effective technique, based on his observations of how a praying mantis attacks a cicada. The latter, although superior in size to the attacker, nevertheless turned out to be completely helpless in front of his fast and accurate movements.
There are over 2 thousand species of these insects in the world. And in our region there lives only one - the common mantis.
This predator is not at all as pious as it might seem. Sitting in ambush for hours in a humble pose, he, like a seasoned special forces soldier, blends in with the vegetation. Fortunately, the natural colors allow him to do this without special training. And at the right moment, the praying mantis grabs its victim with lightning speed and gnaws it alive.
As explained by the professor of the Department of Biology of BelSU Alexander Prisny, the praying mantis is the cockroach's closest relative. But unlike him, he is not content with garbage. He lives not in apartments, but in meadows and steppes. And it’s larger in size: the local specimen reaches 6 cm in length, and the Chinese one is twice as large.
The praying mantis is widespread on all continents. But there are very few representatives of some species left, so they are listed in the Red Book.
Scare the size
The green, also known as common, mantis often imitates grass, making it difficult to see. Large protruding eyes provide great visibility. A fly, a wasp or a butterfly gapes, and he has already noticed it. The head is triangular, the neck is so flexible that it can turn back, like an owl.
These awkward predators are terribly gluttonous. Always Ready to attack forces them to hold their front legs with tenacious spikes, like scissors. They eat everything from aphids to beetles. Females are not afraid to grab prey much larger than themselves, such as a frog.
Some species have wings, but more often they use them to intimidate enemies. And the praying mantis has many enemies.
Photo from pixabay.com
“Young individuals can be eaten by predatory beetles (ground beetles), spiders, and lizards. Adults include some birds, for example, shrikes,” says Prisny.
The trick of the praying mantis is not to run away, but to scare the enemy. When he is attacked, he tries to visually become larger. To do this, it sharply throws out its wings and hisses, swaying from side to side.
Deadly Lover
A plot that could be used for a horror movie is commonplace for praying mantises. They mate only once. The female is always larger than her suitor. And this fatal lady will most likely not only break his heart, but also bite off his head. Right during the action.
“She eats it if she’s hungry,” explains the professor. – This food is used for the development of eggs and the formation of the egg capsule. Simply put, for procreation.”
Scientists believe that the female praying mantis is inclined to cannibalism by an overwhelming amount of sex hormones. Here the gentleman is also weakened and cannot resist... And for further development in ootecae (a form of laying) eggs are required a large number of squirrel.
Having chosen the lady of his heart, the future father sneaks up on her from behind for several hours. And then he tries to quickly leave the place of the orgy in order to avoid being a snack. The likelihood of losing your head is reduced if the chosen one has eaten a hearty meal before starting love games. But the paradox is that only a hungry female releases a huge amount of attractive pheromones. It is for such fragrant ladies that mantises arrange real duels not for life, but for death. True, their lifespan is already short - these insects live on average about a year.
Is it possible to keep praying mantises at home?
IN Lately It has become fashionable to keep praying mantises in terrariums. They are practically safe for people - only a large female can bite through human skin.
“It’s better to have males. And in the second half of September and in October, when the breeding season is over,” advises Prisny.
You will have to feed your pet only live and twitching food. Crickets, grasshoppers, cockroaches, and flies are perfect. He will definitely eat his neighbors less than himself. It is also not worth housing two males together.
It is believed that praying mantises are field orderlies. In the Soviet Union, at one time they wanted to use them industrially as biological protection against pests of agricultural plants. True, this idea had to be abandoned, because the praying mantises also ate beneficial insects, including bees. In the USA and Asian countries they are still kept in homes to control flies.
Some peoples believed that by frightening a praying mantis, a person would shorten his life. It was believed that his bite would save him from warts, and he himself was able to predict the future and show the way: the insect should extend its upper leg in the direction in which it should go.
The ancient Greeks attributed to him the ability to predict the coming of spring. And in Rome, if anyone fell ill, they told him: “It was the praying mantis who looked at you.”.
The praying mantis played a cult role: its image was found on a Proserpine coin from Metapontus, next to the sacred ear of the Eleusinian mysteries.
In an engraving by the famous Dutch artist Mauritsa Escher depicts a praying mantis praying for the remission of sins of a deceased religious dignitary.
Mantis is the name given to one of the styles of Chinese martial arts, Wushu. It was invented by a Chinese peasant who watched a predator hunt.
Anna Morozova
Insect mantis In the recent past, many scientists and researchers classified them as belonging to the same family due to a number of similar elements in the structure of the wings and body.
However, today this guess has been refuted by official science and these insects are classified as a separate species, which has its own specific characteristics and habits.
The order was named just that – “mantises”, and at the moment it includes about two and a half thousand species.
About the praying mantis we can definitely say that a rare other insect can compete with it in the number of mentions in the mythologies of various peoples of the world.
For example, the ancient Chinese associated the praying mantis with stubbornness and greed; the Greeks believed that it had the ability to predict the weather and was a harbinger of spring.
The Bushmen were sure that the image of the praying mantis was directly related to cunning and resourcefulness, and the Turks were sure that it always points its limbs directly in the direction of the holy Mecca.
Asians often gave their offspring fried eggs insect to get rid of such an unpleasant illness as enuresis, and Europeans noticed the similarity of the praying mantis with monks offering prayers and awarded it the name Mantis religiosa.
Mantis large insect, its dimensions can exceed 10-12 cm
Features and habitat
By description of the insect mantis you can see that it is quite large, and the length of its body can reach ten or more centimeters.
The typical color characteristic of these insects is white-yellow or green. However, it varies greatly depending on habitat and time of year.
Thanks to the natural ability of mimicry, the color of the insect can exactly repeat the color of stones, branches, trees and grass, so if the praying mantis is in a motionless state, it is very difficult to recognize it with the naked eye among the stormy landscape.
Head triangular shape very mobile (rotates 180 degrees) and connects directly to the chest. Usually you can see a small dark spot on the paws.
The insect has incredibly developed front legs, which have quite powerful sharp spines, with the help of which it can actually grab its prey for further consumption.
The praying mantis has four wings, two of which are dense and narrow, and the other two are thin and wide and can open like a fan.
In the photo, the praying mantis spread its wings
The habitat of the praying mantis is a vast territory, including the countries of Southern Europe, Western and Central Asia, Australia, Belarus, Tatarstan, as well as numerous steppe regions.
This insect came to the USA on ships and merchant ships, where it inhabited the decks like cockroaches and.
Because the sign of a praying mantis is increased thermophilicity, it can easily be found in the tropics and subtropics, where it inhabits not only rain forests, but also rocky areas such as deserts.
Character and lifestyle of the praying mantis
The praying mantis prefers to lead a lifestyle that is far from nomadic, that is, settling for a long time in the same area.
If there is a sufficient amount of food around, he can literally not leave the confines of one single plant or tree branch throughout his life.
Despite the fact that these insects can fly quite well and have two pairs of wings, they use them infrequently, preferring to move with the help of their long limbs.
Mostly males fly and exclusively at night, flying from branch to branch or from bush to bush.
They can also move from tier to tier, and you can meet them at the foot of tall tree, and at the top of its crown.
The praying mantis spends most of its time in one position (with its front legs raised high), for which, in fact, it got its name.
The praying mantis in the pose for which it got its name
Indeed, looking at it from the outside, it may seem that the insect is praying, but in fact it is busy guarding its future prey.
Despite the fact that the praying mantis has well-developed limbs and wings, it quite often becomes prey for various birds, since it is extremely bad at running away from the aggressor.
Perhaps it is for this reason that the insect tries to move as little as possible during daylight hours, preferring to blend in with the surrounding vegetation.
Although cockroaches are insects similar to praying mantis, you can notice that their habits are very different, especially since the praying mantis rarely gathers in large flocks.
Feeding a praying mantis
Praying Mantis – predatory insect , therefore, it feeds, accordingly, on insects, such as bugs, cockroaches, etc. Occasionally, even small lizards, frogs, birds and some small rodents become its prey.
The appetite of these insects is very good, and literally in a matter of months one individual is capable of eating several thousand insects of various sizes from grasshoppers to aphids. In some cases, the praying mantis can even attack animals with a backbone.
Mantises are also characterized by cannibalism, that is, eating their relatives. For example, it often happens that female praying mantis eats the male immediately after the mating process, but sometimes she can eat him without waiting for the end of lovemaking.
To prevent this from happening, male praying mantis is forced to perform a kind of “dance”, thanks to which the female is able to distinguish him from prey and thereby keep him alive.
The photo shows the mating dance of a praying mantis
The praying mantis can sit motionless for a long time, merging with the surrounding vegetation, waiting for its prey.
When an unsuspecting animal or animal approaches the mantis, it makes a sharp lunge and grabs the victim with the help of its forelimbs, which have dangerous spines.
With these same paws, the mantis brings the prey directly to its mouth and begins to absorb it. It should be noted that the jaws of these insects are surprisingly well developed, so that it can easily “grind” a not very large rodent or a medium-sized frog.
If the potential prey is quite large, the mantis prefers to approach it from the back, and when it approaches it at a close distance, it makes a sharp lunge to capture it.
In general, the main diet of this insect is considered to be small insects; it can start hunting for lizards and mice, being extremely hungry. In this case, he can easily turn from a hunter into a victim.
Reproduction and lifespan
Mantis mating in conditions wildlife usually occurs from late summer to early autumn.
Males, using their own sense of smell, begin to intensively move around the habitat in search of females.
Contrary to established stereotypes, the female does not always eat the male after the mating process. This only applies to some varieties.
Those representatives of mantises that live in more northern latitudes need cooling of the air temperature in order for the eggs to begin to hatch. In one clutch, a female can produce about two hundred eggs.
Praying mantises are often kept at home by insect lovers. If you want to purchase a similar copy for yourself, you can easily find photo of praying mantis with prices on the Internet. The lifespan of this insect is about six months.
- Phylum – Arthropods
- Class – Insects
- Squad – Cockroaches
- Suborder – Praying Mantis (Mantodea)
The famous Swedish scientist and traveler Carl Linnaeus gave scientific name praying mantis: Mantis religiosa. Mantis translated from Greek means “prophet”, “priest”; religiosa - religious. Why did the praying mantis get such a strange name? Look at the photo: the praying mantis looks like someone praying. He stands on only four legs out of six, and keeps his forelimbs folded in front of his muzzle, as if he is praying to the Lord
An engraving by the famous Dutch artist Maurits Escher depicts a praying mantis praying for the absolution of a deceased religious dignitary. The praying mantis really looks like a person: it holds food in its “hands”, washes itself after a meal, can turn around (the only one of all insects!) and look intently, just like a person.
But the praying mantis is not as pious as it might seem. In fact, the predatory insect waits in ambush for an unwary victim in order to grab it with lightning speed.
The praying mantis is a typical predator
The praying mantis is a typical example of a predator in wait, or, in other words, an “ambush”. For hours he can sit quietly in a secluded place, waiting for prey. The camouflage coloring allows the mantis to blend in with the vegetation, and even the shape of its body resembles part of a plant. Although it lives among an abundance of greenery, it does not accept plant foods. Moreover, the carnivorous insect eats its prey exclusively alive.
Praying mantises are merciless not only towards other insects smaller in size, which for them are nothing more than a tasty lunch, but also towards their relatives. Anyone who keeps this aggressive creature as a pet needs to know this. Two or more praying mantises are unlikely to live together, especially if one is larger than the other.
In the Middle Ages in Japan, the praying mantis was considered a symbol of courage and cruelty, and even the image of the insect was applied to the hilts of samurai swords. And one of the positions in kung fu repeats the pose of a praying mantis, ready for battle. In addition, in China they believed that the praying mantis had healing powers and could cure some diseases. The ancient Greeks considered the praying mantis a harbinger of spring and a weather predictor; they called it a “prophet” and “soothsayer.” And in some European countries even today, praying mantises are credited with some magical powers. Perhaps this creature, which is an object of superstition, will arouse your interest and you will want to keep it as a treasure?
Praying mantises: appearance and structural features
Praying mantises are large insects, and females are much larger than males. There are about two thousand species of praying mantises in the world. Common mantis(lat. Mantis religiosa) measures about 6 cm in length. The largest of the mantises, the Chinese mantis, reaches a length of 15 cm.
The body of mantises is elongated, the head is almost triangular, mobile. Large, round, bulging eyes that point slightly forward and downwards provide it with a much wider field of vision than a human. And thanks to its extremely flexible neck, the praying mantis can turn its head so that it will notice any creature approaching it from behind. The mouth is well developed and equipped with biting jaws or a sucking proboscis.
Among the praying mantises there are both winged and wingless ones. In insects equipped with wings, both pairs of wings are well developed. The front wings are narrower than the hind wings and denser. When at rest, the wide membranous hind wings are folded like a fan and covered with elytra. It must be said that the wings are for their intended purpose, i.e. for flight, the praying mantis rarely uses it. Rather, he needs them to intimidate prey, as well as enemies.
The body structure of the praying mantis indicates that the insect is well adapted to a predatory lifestyle. The abdomen is ten-segmented, soft and flattened, with numerous long outgrowths - cerci (serve as olfactory organs). The long thigh is seated along the lower edge with three rows of strong spines. The lower edge of the tibia also has 3 rows of pronounced spines. The thigh and lower leg fold together to form a powerful grasping apparatus that acts like scissors.
Mantis - master of camouflage
Some types of mantises are green in color, so they are difficult to notice among the grass and foliage, while others can have a pinkish tint, as a result they merge with flower petals. And, for example, the Indian mantis has a brown tint and on the ground looks like just a fallen leaf.
The praying mantis's body shape and various camouflage colors allow the insect to blend in with plants, making it virtually invisible to both potential victims and enemies. The praying mantis itself can also become a victim of larger predators (birds, lizards). To protect itself from enemies, the praying mantis has a number of protective devices.
Thus, the camouflage color makes the praying mantis hidden in the grass almost invisible. Gives the insect movement. Under normal circumstances, the praying mantis moves very slowly, but when in danger it can quickly crawl to cover. When there is a clear threat, the insect visually increases the area of its body, opening its wings, and begins to sway from side to side, trying with all its might to scare away the enemy. The insect tries to hit the enemy with its front legs with sharp spines.
