Grass mantis is a
common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
mostly given to various species of
praying mantis
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 ha ...
that
mimic
MIMIC, known in capitalized form only, is a former simulation computer language developed 1964 by H. E. Petersen, F. J. Sansom and L. M. Warshawsky of Systems Engineering Group within the Air Force Materiel Command at the Wright-Patterson AFB in ...
grass
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...
or other slender
vegetation
Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic character ...
. Species to which this name has been applied include but are not limited to:
*''
Glabromantis mexicana'' (Mexican grass mantis)
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Odontomantis planiceps'' (grass mantis)
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Oxyothespis dumonti'' (African grass mantis)
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Thesprotia graminis'' (American grass mantis)
*''
Schizocephala bicornis'' (Indian grass mantis)
See also
*
Dead leaf mantis
Dead leaf mantis is a common name given to various species of praying mantis that mimic dead leaves. It is most often used in reference to species within genus ''Deroplatys'' because of their popularity as exotic pets. Examples include '' D. d ...
*
Flower mantis
Flower mantises are praying mantis species that use a special form of camouflage referred to as aggressive mimicry, which they not only use to attract prey, but avoid predators as well. These insects have specific colorations and behaviors that ...
*
Stick mantis
Stick mantis and twig mantis are common names applied to numerous species of mantis that mimic sticks or twigs as camouflage. Often the name serves to identify entire genera such as is the case with:
*''Brunneria'' (including Brunner's stick man ...
*
List of mantis genera and species
The following list of mantis genera and species is based on the "Mantodea Species File", which is the primary reference for the taxonomy shown here.
The insect Order (biology), order Mantodea consists of over 2,400 species of mantises in about 460 ...
References
Mantodea
Insect common names
{{Mantodea-stub