praying mantis

A praying mantis, or praying mantid, is the common colloquial name for an insect of the order Mantodea. Often mistakenly spelled preying mantis (a tempting mistake, as they are notoriously predatory) they are in fact named for the typical "prayer-like" stance. The word mantis derives from the Greek word Mantes for prophet or fortune teller. The preferred pluralization is mantids^[1], though there is some usage of mantes or mantises.

There are approximately 2,300 species in the order Mantodea world-wide; most are tropical or subtropical, but several species live in temperate climates such as that of the northern United States, central Europe, and Siberia. Most Praying mantids belong to the family Mantidae.

Praying mantids are one of the few insects that can turn their heads. They have excellent vision, and hunt insects (and sometimes small vertebrates) by stealth and a rapid striking attack. No mantis is poisonous and they present no threat to humans.

Some texts refer to the European mantis (Mantis religiosa) as the most common praying mantis in European countries. Ischnomantis gigas is the largest mantis with 17cm length in the female and is found in the Sahel zone of Africa. The smallest mantis is Bolbe pygmaea, which is only 1cm long when fully grown.

A gravid female praying mantis will produce a large foam mass, called an ootheca. This ootheca can contain up to 300 eggs, all protected in the foam sack. These oothecae are laid in the fall — after which the adult mantids die — and can take up to five months to hatch.^[1] Some species hatch in small intervals, and hatching can take up to five weeks before all of the nymphs fully emerge. Not only do gravid females produce oothecae, infertile oothecae can be produced by females which have not been mated. These may sometimes hatch one or two nymphs; however, this is very unlikely. Some species, such as Brunneria borealis, produce oothecae through parthenogenesis. This is where a male is not needed to produce fertile ootheca; however, all the mantid's offspring of this sort will be female.

In the United States, species were first introduced from Europe and China around 1900 as garden predators in an effort to control pest populations. The Carolina mantis is the official state insect of South Carolina, and the European mantis is the official state insect of Connecticut.

Some mantis species

• Acanthops falcata - Venezuelan Dead Leaf mantis
• Acanthops fuscifolia - Tropical Dead Leaf
• Acanthops tuberculata - Tropical Dead Leaf
• Acromantis sp. - Boxer mantis
• Ameles decolor

• Ameles spallanzania
• Alalomantis muta - Cameroon mantis
• Asiadodis squilla - Asian shield mantis
• Blepharopsis mendica - Thistle mantis
• Brunneria subaptera - Stick mantis
• Brunneria borealis - Stick mantis
• Camelomantis sondaica
• Ceratocrania macra
• Ceratomantis saussurii
• Choeradodis rhombicollis - Tropical shield mantis
• Choeradodis stalii - Tropical shield mantis
• Cilnia humeralis
• Creobroter meleagris - Flower mantis
• Creobroter gemmatus - Indian flower mantis

• Creobroter pictipennis - Indian flower mantis
• Creobroter elongata - Flower mantis
• Deroplatys angustata - Dead Leaf mantis
• Deroplatys desiccata - Dead Leaf mantis
• Deroplatys lobata - Dead Leaf mantis
• Deroplatys truncata - Dead Leaf mantis

• Empusa fasciata
• Empusa pennata
• Eremiaphila brunneri - Common desert mantis
• Eremiaphila zetterstedti
• Euchomenella heteroptera - Twig mantis
• Gongylus gongylodes - Indian rose/Violin mantis
• Gonatista grisea - Grizzled mantis
• Heterochaeta strachani
• Hierodula membranacea - Giant Asian mantis
• Hierodula grandis - Giant Indian mantis
• Hierodula patellifera - Indo-Pacific mantis
• Hierodula parviceps - Philippine mantis

• Holaptilon pusillulum - Jumpy mantis
• Hoplocorypha sp.
• Humbertiella ceylonica
• Hymenopus coronatus - Orchid mantis
• Idolomantis diabolica - Devil's Flower mantis
• Idolomorpha madagascariensis
• Ischnomantis gigas
• Iris oratoria - Mediterranean mantis

• Liturgusa lichenalis - Lichen mantis
• Macromantis hyalina
• Mantis religiosa - European mantis
• Miomantis caffra - South African mantis
• Miomantis paykullii - Egyptian mantis
• Miomantis abyssinica - Egyptian mantis
• Odontomantis sp. - Ant mantis
• Oligonicella scudderi - Scudder's mantis
• Orthodera novaezealandiae - New Zealand mantis
• Otomantis sp. - Boxer mantis
• Oxyopsis gracilis - Peruvian mantis
• Oxyopsis peruviana - Peruvian mantis
• Oxyothespis dumonti
• Paramantis prasina

• Parasphendale agrionina - Bud-winged mantis
• Parasphendale affinis - African banded mantis
• Paratoxodera cornicollis - Giant Malaysian stick mantis
• Phyllocrania paradoxa - Ghost mantis
• Phyllovates chlorophaea
• Plistospilota guineensis
• Polyspilota aeruginosa
• Popa spurca - twig mantis
• Pseudocreobotra ocellata - Spiny flower mantis

• Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii - Spiny flower mantis
• Pseudovates arizonae - Arizona unicorn mantis
• Rhombodera basalis - Giant Malaysian shield mantis
• Rhombodera extensicollis - Giant shield mantis
• Rhombodera megaera - Giant shield mantis
• Rivetina baetica - Ground mantis
• Sphodromantis balachowskyi - African mantis
• Sphodromantis chud - African mantis
• Sphodromantis lineola - African mantis
• Sphodromantis rubrostigma - African mantis
• Sphodromantis centralis - African mantis
• Sphodromantis viridis - African mantis or green mantis

• Sphodromantis gastrica - African mantis
• Stagmatoptera hyaloptera
• Stagmomantis californica - California mantis
• Stagmomantis carolina - Carolina mantis
• Stagmomantis limbata - Bordered mantis
• Stagmomantis floridensis - Florida mantis
• Sibylla pretiosa
• Tamolanica tamolana
• Tarachodes afzelii
• Tarachodula pantherina
• Theopropus elegans - Elegant mantis
• Tisma freyi
• Taumantis sigiana - Lime-green mantis
• Tenodera australasiae
• Tenodera angustipennis - Narrow-winged mantis
• Tenodera sinensis - Chinese mantis

• Toxodera denticulata - Giant Malaysian stick mantis
• Yersiniops sophronicum - Yersin's ground mantis
• Yersiniops solitarium - Horned ground mantis
• Zoolea lobipes

For a more detailed treatment of this insect, see Mantodea.

Praying Mantis in Popular Culture

• Zorak - an animated mantis from the cartoon Space Ghost.
• Manny, a character from the Disney/Pixar movie A Bug's Life is a praying mantis
• Apollo Lunar Module - The insect-like appearance of the moon-landing portion of the Apollo spacecraft resembled a "giant praying mantis" according to Apollo 11 Command Module Pilot Michael Collins ^{citation needed]}.
• Mantazz, a playable character in the videogame Time Killers, is a human-sized alien that greatly resembles a praying mantis.
• In China there is a Praying Mantis Kung Fu style ( 螳螂拳) based on the movement of the Chinese Mantis, although there are Northern and Southern style but both of them have the recognisable mantis hand movement (with their long and middle fingers pointing downwards).
• The Magic School Bus spins web, praying mantis appearant as villian witch the kids must stop.

References

1. ^ ^a b Iowa State University Department of Entomology, "Praying Mantis". http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/node/178

External links

• Photographs of praying mantis
• A praying mantis catches a hummingbird
• Video of a mantis catching and eating a cricket
• Giant Praying Mantis Invades Prague