This very “devout” creature gets its curious name from the way its front legs are positioned, making it look like it's saying a prayer. This carnivorous insect hides great secrets that we want to reveal to you in this article from our site. For example, did you know that they are able to distinguish colors? Do you want to know more about the praying mantis? Well, this article is made for you because we tell you all the information about the praying mantis!
Origin of the praying mantis
The mantis is an insect belonging to the Mantide family To be more exact, it is part of theorder Mantodea , within this subgroup more than 2300 species are classified, all popularly named as praying mantis. It also receives other names such as: tatadiós, santateresa and other terms that allude to that religiosity that it seems to inspire, although it is commonly known as praying mantis or just mantis. But not only the term "religious" refers to religion, because in Greek "mantis" means "prophet" or "fortune teller".
As for the evolutionary origins of this unique species, fossils have been found in the Siberian steppes that, according to data, are more than 135 million years old antiquity As a result of various studies, it has been established that it is probable that mantises are related to cockroaches and termites, as well as to grasshoppers and crickets, although the latter would be much closer relatives. distant.
Praying Mantis Characteristics
Because camouflage will mean the difference between surviving or dying from predators, the praying mantis has developed a series of characteristics throughout its evolutionary process that make its mimicry with the environment practically perfect. The body of the praying mantis is elongated and extremely thin, measuring 4 to 7.5 centimeters in length Usually they have two pairs of wings, although some species they present vestigial wings, or directly lack them, especially in females, and perhaps this constitutes the only observable difference between the sexes. If they have wings, the previous ones will be harder, thus protecting the later ones. As a curious fact, praying mantises have a single ear located on their thorax.
Its characteristics legs are folded when it is not hunting, presenting between one and two rows of spines, which are responsible for escape from them is practically impossible. So, this is the usual praying mantis position.
Continuing with the characteristics of the praying mantis, it is usually green or brown, in order to blend in with the branches and leaves of the places where it lives. In this way, the color determines your place of residence. For example, if it is brown it will live on the trunks, while if it is green it will live on the foliage.
The head of the praying mantis is triangular and can rotate up to 180°Presents a total of 5 eyes , 2 compound and 3 simple divided between the other two. The largest are capable of distinguishing colors and are found at the upper ends of the inverted triangle that forms the head; the three small eyes are called ocelli and can only detect changes in light intensity, complementing the others, and are usually grouped in the central part of the head.
Praying mantis habitat
Although its origin is in the temperate climate zones of Asia, North Africa and Europe, this insect has spread throughout the worldwith brutal forcefulness, being established in places as distant from the originals as North America or Oceania. Now, if you wonder where the praying mantis lives within these places, its habitat par excellence is made up of scrub areas and deciduous forests
The first North American mantids were recorded in 1899, the arrival in the American continent was through the export of plants from Europe and Asia for trade. Once it reached the New World, the praying mantis spread like wildfire, reaching every corner of the American continent.
The praying mantis is even adapted to life in captivity, as they perform functions both as pets and as agents of control of various pests in orchards and crops. Of course, if the praying mantis is bred in captivity, it is necessary to provide an ideal environment for its he alth, which includes some conditions humidity of up to 60 % and a temperature between 25 and 28 ºC, keeping your environment clean from debris that they leave after feeding on their prey, which must be insects or live animals. You always have to have them alone, because if they were in a group they would fight and kill each other.
Praying mantis reproduction
Without a doubt the most distinctive aspect of the praying mantis is its special reproductive cycle. Normally this cycle starts in the summer season, when females begin to secrete higher levels of hormones, which attracts males to them to mount and fertilize them. In the event that more than one male finds the same female, they will fight until only one of them remains, which will be the one that manages to perpetuate his genes.
However, the process does not end there, because once the female is found the male begins to perform a kind of dance, surrounding her until she manages to mount her by jumping on her back and connecting their antennae. It is after this courtship that fertilization actually occurs, which consists of the arrival of the male's spermatophore in the female's reproductive cavity. In total, all these steps take the couple more than two hours It is when this step ends that what has made the mantis so famous happens, and that is that in many cases after copulation the female devours the male that has fertilized her, that is, she practices cannibalism. Although we can think that this happens every time a praying mantis reproduces, this can be almost a myth, since it is only in 13-28% of cases. It should be noted that it occurs with a much higher incidence in captive praying mantises.
Why does the praying mantis eat the male?
This cannibalism of the praying mantis has a biological explanation, since it is due to the fact that during this mating season the females become extremely aggressive, that is why sometimes they do not even wait for copulation to end, since when they devour the male they do so starting with his head, preserving intact the parts of his nervous system responsible for carrying out fertilization. That's how methodical the mantids are, even guided by anger they are able to distinguish what they devour and what they don't.
Something that may surprise us is that they do not eat the male only out of aggressiveness, because the fundamental reason is that this way they ensure that the offspring are born, because by devouring the male they are making an extra protein contribution for that the eggs form properly, and that there are more eggs in that clutch, therefore they are not being murderous for no reason, they are just trying to ensure the future of their progeny. Although other theories defend that when the reproductive cycle of the praying mantis occurs during the summer, it has more than enough prey, and, therefore, the cause of cannibalism It would reside in the fact that eating the male's head increases the flow of sperm, especially due to the convulsions that finally lead to death. Thus, when asked why the praying mantis eats the male after mating, there are several possible answers.
The truth is that once the pregnancy is complete, the mantis lays between 100 and 300 eggs, and also secretes a kind of foam, called the ootheca, that protects them. That spawning will already be in autumn and they usually do it in sheltered places such as branches or leaves, always trying to hide them to guarantee that the life cycle of the praying mantis begins successfully.
Praying Mantis Customs
The mantis is a species with diurnal habits, which prefers solitary life, spending most of the day still, well that's how it camouflages itself with its surroundings and remains safe from predators that can kill it. In addition, in this way they are not detected by their prey either, which are unaware that they are being watched by their attentive gaze.
They can reach easily reach one year of life, molting about six times during that time. To moult, the praying mantis hangs from a branch and frees itself from the old layer of cuticle, leaving it from the front.
Praying mantis feeding
The praying mantis is a carnivorous insect, its diet is usually based on the ingestion of other insects as well as arthropods such as spiders or beetles Some larger subspecies, usually in more exotic locations, may also feed on small vertebrates such as frogs, salamanders, snakes, mice andeven birds Birds were once thought to be on their menu only on a few rare occasions, however new research has brought to light the fact that it is a widespread custom in many of the species of praying mantis spread across the globe. Specifically, the majority of attacks occur in North America, where hummingbirds are the most targeted, mainly due to their small size.
Their voracity is such that scientists have exposed that the female mantises, in case of famine, even kill the males to feed on them. When the food needs of the mantis are not met, that female will kill the male before he can mount her, avoiding copulation, since this would require an investment of energy resources that she does not have due to her nutritional deficiencies.
The mantis method during stalking and attacking is as follows: first choose the prey that she wants to hunt, calculating how far away she is, while anticipating her movements and, therefore, the direction she has to take to reach that prey. Once this is done, it extends its front legs, capturing the victim with its iron hug In this way it pierces its prey, who, with no chance of escaping, is doomed without remedy to be devoured by the mantis, which uses its powerful jaws to tear it apart and take advantage of its newly obtained food source. All this happens in a very short time, just a few milliseconds it takes the praying mantis to carry out the complete process that we have described, making it one of the most aggressive and lethal animals.
Images of praying mantis
Now that you know all the most relevant information about the praying mantis, follow the article to view images of the green mantis and the brown mantis, up close, from afar, hunting and much more. And if you have been able to take a photograph of this curious insect, leave your comment and share it!
