Identification
Scientific Name:
Mantis sp.
Common Names:
Mantids, praying mantids, mantis

Classification
Class: Insecta
Order: Dictyoptera
Family: Mantidae
Genus: Mantis
Species: There are about 2000 species of mantids

 

The name praying mantid refers to a single European species of mantid, the Mantis religiosa. All the other species are simply referred to as mantids.
  

Habitat
Praying mantids occur throught the tropics and in many of the sunny temperate zones of the world. They are comfortable wherever there is vegetation, where they can lie in wait for their favourite prey, namely, other insects.

In 1869, an Asian mantid, the Tenodera sinensis, was introduced in North America in the hopes that this great predatory insect would help eliminate pests. Today, it is one of the most prolific mantids in North America.
  

Profile
Slowly bring your face up close to a praying mantid and it will abruptly turn its head in your direction and stare at you with its big bulging eyes. Establishing eye contact with this insect, which has a piercing gaze, can be disconcerting. The eerie attraction doesn't stop there. By its shape and attitude, the mantid is the most " human " of all insects -- it stands up, has two very mobile arms and is the only insect able to turn its head in all directions, like we do.
 
Praying mantids are formidable killing machines. Nothing escapes their raptorial forelegs, not even other mantises.
 
The hunting techniques of mantids are based on camouflage and striking power. A predator's first concern is to go unnoticed. Green-coloured mantises are generally hidden among the foliage, brown ones on bark and other, very colourful ones, on the petals of flowers. Some mantises go to great lengths to avoid detection, with bodies shaped to blend in with the background. Threadlike mantises that look like blades of grass, others flattened out so that they resemble the lichen that grows on trees or presenting protuberances that look for all the world like the lobes of leaves.
 
As soon as an insect lands near this odd-looking plant, it enters into its collimator. The mantis's eyes instantly beam to its brain all the data on the exact location of its prey. This visual acuity is essential because the upcoming attack will occur at lightning speed. In less than 50 thousandths of a second, the mantis thrusts out its powerful forelegs, grasps its prey and brings it to its equally powerful jaws.
 
Four hundred years ago, this defense mechanism so impressed a Chinese monk that he created a new martial art based on the mantis's various stances. The " mantis style " of kung fu is still taught today.
 
We wouldn't, however, want to emulate the mantis in everything it does. For instance, women would be well advised not to devour the heads of their mates when in the throes of lovemaking . . .
 
As for the offspring within a same family, they really should avoid devouring each other, as newly-hatched mantises are wont to do. Indeed, the " praying " mantis gives new meaning to the expression " appearances can be deceptive ".

Some tropical mantids are very large and will feed on small birds and reptiles as well as on other insects.
  

To defend themselves, some mantises hit out with their raptorial forelegs, boxing fashion. The largest species can strike with sufficient force to make a human bleed.
  

Among some species of mantises, the male is capable of successfully mating with the female after she has devoured his head because copulatory activity is under the control of another part of his body.