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Mantises are an
order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
(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 have triangular heads with bulging eyes supported on flexible necks. Their elongated bodies may or may not have wings, but all Mantodea have forelegs that are greatly enlarged and adapted for catching and gripping prey; their upright posture, while remaining stationary with forearms folded, has led to the common name praying mantis. The closest relatives of mantises are termites and cockroaches ( Blattodea), which are all within the
superorder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...
Dictyoptera Dictyoptera (from Greek δίκτυον ''diktyon'' "net" and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing") is an insect superorder that includes two extant orders of polyneopterous insects: the order Blattodea (termites and cockroaches together) and the ord ...
. Mantises are sometimes confused with stick insects (
Phasmatodea The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida, Phasmatoptera or Spectra) are an order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick-bugs, walking sticks, stick animals, or bug sticks. They are also occasionally referred to as ...
), other elongated insects such as
grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...
s (
Orthoptera Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – grassho ...
), or other more distantly related insects with raptorial forelegs such as mantisflies ( Mantispidae). Mantises are mostly ambush predators, but a few ground-dwelling species are found actively pursuing their prey. They normally live for about a year. In cooler climates, the adults lay eggs in autumn, then die. The eggs are protected by their hard capsules and hatch in the spring. Females sometimes practice sexual cannibalism, eating their mates after copulation. Mantises were considered to have
supernatural powers Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multi ...
by early civilizations, including Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, and Assyria. A cultural
trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...
popular in
cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
s imagines the female mantis as a ''
femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...
''. Mantises are among the insects most commonly kept as pets.


Taxonomy and evolution

Over 2,400 species of mantis in about 430 genera are recognized. They are predominantly found in tropical regions, but some live in temperate areas. The
systematics Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tre ...
of mantises have long been disputed. Mantises, along with stick insects (
Phasmatodea The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida, Phasmatoptera or Spectra) are an order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick-bugs, walking sticks, stick animals, or bug sticks. They are also occasionally referred to as ...
), were once placed in the order
Orthoptera Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – grassho ...
with the cockroaches (now Blattodea) and ice crawlers (now
Grylloblattodea Grylloblattidae, commonly known as the icebugs, or ice crawlers, is a family of extremophile (psychrophile) and wingless insects that live in the cold on top of mountains and the edges of glaciers. They belong, along with Mantophasmatidae (rock c ...
). Kristensen (1991) combined the Mantodea with the cockroaches and termites into the order
Dictyoptera Dictyoptera (from Greek δίκτυον ''diktyon'' "net" and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing") is an insect superorder that includes two extant orders of polyneopterous insects: the order Blattodea (termites and cockroaches together) and the ord ...
, suborder Mantodea. The name ''mantodea'' is formed from the Ancient Greek words (''mantis'') meaning "prophet", and (''eidos'') meaning "form" or "type". It was coined in 1838 by the German entomologist Hermann Burmeister. The order is occasionally called the mantes, using a Latinized plural of Greek ''mantis''. The name mantid properly refers only to members of the family Mantidae, which was, historically, the only family in the order. The other common name, praying mantis, applied to any species in the order (though in Europe mainly to ''
Mantis religiosa The European mantis (''Mantis religiosa'') is a large hemimetabolic insect in the family of the Mantidae ('mantids'), which is the largest family of the order Mantodea (mantises). Their common name praying mantis is derived from the distinctive ...
''), comes from the typical " prayer-like" posture with folded forelimbs. The vernacular plural "mantises" (used in this article) was confined largely to the US, with "mantids" predominantly used as the plural in the UK and elsewhere, until the family Mantidae was further split in 2002.Ehrmann, R. 2002. Mantodea: Gottesanbeterinnen der Welt. Natur und Tier, Münster. One of the earliest classifications splitting an all-inclusive Mantidae into multiple families was that proposed by Beier in 1968, recognizing eight families, though it was not until Ehrmann's reclassification into 15 families in 2002 that a multiple-family classification became universally adopted. Klass, in 1997, studied the external male genitalia and postulated that the families
Chaeteessidae Chaeteessidae is a family of praying mantises. It contains a single extant genus, '' Chaeteessa'', native to South America which is thought to be the most primitive and earliest diverging lineage of living mantises. Fossil genera are known from th ...
and
Metallyticidae ''Metallyticus'' is a genus of praying mantis. It is the only genus in the monotypic family Metallyticidae. They are mostly found in South-East Asia. The species of the genus are dark, somewhat flattened and cockroach-like, and often with a cuti ...
diverged from the other families at an early date. However, as previously configured, the Mantidae and
Thespidae Thespidae is a family of Neotropical insects in the order Mantodea. Following a major revision of this order in 2019, the old-world subfamilies Haaniinae and Hoplocoryphinae, previously placed here, have been upgraded to family level. Subfamil ...
especially were considered polyphyletic, so the Mantodea have been revised substantially as of 2019 and now includes 29 families.Schwarz CJ, Roy R (2019) The systematics of Mantodea revisited: an updated classification incorporating multiple data sources (Insecta: Dictyoptera) ''Annales de la Société entomologique de France (N.S.) International Journal of Entomology'' 55 [2]: 101–196.
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Fossil mantises

The earliest mantis fossils are about 140 million years old, from Siberia. Fossils of the group are rare: by 2022, 37 fossil species are known. Fossil mantises, including one from Japan with spines on the front legs as in modern mantises, have been found in Cretaceous amber. Most fossils in amber are nymphs; compression fossils (in rock) include adults. Fossil mantises from the Crato Formation in Brazil include the long ''
Santanmantis axelrodi ''Santanmantis'' is an extinct genus of mantises, the sole genus in the family Santanmantidae. The only species, ''Santanmantis axelrodi'' , is known from the Crato Formation The Crato Formation is a geologic formation of Early Cretaceous (Ap ...
'', described in 2003; as in modern mantises, the front legs were adapted for catching prey. Well-preserved specimens yield details as small as 5 μm through X-ray computed tomography. Extinct families and genera include: * †
Baissomantidae Baissomantidae is an extinct family of primitive mantises known from the Cretaceous period. There are two known genera, '' Baissomantis'', known from the Early Cretaceous Zaza Formation of Buryatia, Russia, and '' Labradormantis'' from the mid Cre ...
* † Gryllomantidae * †
Cretomantidae Cretomantidae is an extinct family of mantises in the order Mantodea. It contains at least one genus '' Cretomantis'', which is known from the Early Cretaceous Zaza Formation of Buryatia, Russia. The genus '' Electromantis'' known from Late Creta ...
* †
Santanmantidae ''Santanmantis'' is an extinct genus of mantises, the sole genus in the family Santanmantidae. The only species, ''Santanmantis axelrodi'' , is known from the Crato Formation of Brazil, dating to the late Aptian The Aptian is an age in the ge ...
* †
Amelidae The mantis family Amelidae was previously placed in the family Mantidae. Species have been recorded from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Genera The Mantodea Species File lists a single subfamily Amelinae, comprising two tribes: Amelini ...
* '' Incertae sedis'': ** †'' Jersimantis'' ** †'' Chaeteessites'' ** †'' Cretophotina'' ** †'' Ambermantis''


Similar insects in the

Neuroptera The insect order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order consists of some 6,000 species. Neuroptera can be grouped together with the Megaloptera and Raphidioptera in th ...

Because of the superficially similar raptorial forelegs, mantidflies may be confused with mantises, though they are unrelated. Their similarity is an example of convergent evolution; mantidflies do not have tegmina (leathery forewings) like mantises, their antennae are shorter and less thread-like, and the raptorial tibia is more muscular than that of a similar-sized mantis and bends back farther in preparation for shooting out to grasp prey. Another example of confusion caused by convergent evolution is Titanoptera, an order of insect that lived in the Triassic period and also shared the Raptorial forelegs of a mantis.


Biology


Anatomy

Mantises have large, triangular heads with a beak-like snout and mandibles. They have two bulbous compound eyes, three small simple eyes, and a pair of antennae. The articulation of the neck is also remarkably flexible; some species of mantis can rotate their heads nearly 180°. The mantis thorax consists of a prothorax, a mesothorax, and a metathorax. In all species apart from the genus ''
Mantoida ''Mantoida'' is a genus of praying mantises in the family Mantoididae. The species of this genus are native to Mexico, Central America, and South America. Species The following species are recognised in the genus ''Mantoida'' : *'' Mantoida arge ...
'', the prothorax, which bears the head and forelegs, is much longer than the other two thoracic segments. The prothorax is also flexibly articulated, allowing for a wide range of movements of the head and fore limbs while the remainder of the body remains more or less immobile. Mantises also are unique to the
Dictyoptera Dictyoptera (from Greek δίκτυον ''diktyon'' "net" and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing") is an insect superorder that includes two extant orders of polyneopterous insects: the order Blattodea (termites and cockroaches together) and the ord ...
in that they have tympanate hearing, with two tympana in an auditory chamber in their metathorax. Most mantises can only hear ultrasound. Mantises have two spiked, grasping forelegs ("raptorial legs") in which prey items are caught and held securely. In most insect legs, including the posterior four legs of a mantis, the coxa and trochanter combine as an inconspicuous base of the leg; in the raptorial legs, however, the coxa and trochanter combine to form a segment about as long as the femur, which is a spiky part of the grasping apparatus (see illustration). Located at the base of the femur is a set of discoidal spines, usually four in number, but ranging from none to as many as five depending on the species. These spines are preceded by a number of tooth-like tubercles, which, along with a similar series of tubercles along the tibia and the apical claw near its tip, give the foreleg of the mantis its grasp on its prey. The foreleg ends in a delicate tarsus used as a walking appendage, made of four or five segments and ending in a two-toed claw with no
arolium The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. Many of the terms used for arthropod leg segments (called podomeres) are of Latin origin, and may be confused with terms for bones: ''coxa'' (meaning hip (anat ...
. Mantises can be loosely categorized as being macropterous (long-winged), brachypterous (short-winged), micropterous (vestigial-winged), or apterous (wingless). If not wingless, a mantis has two sets of wings: the outer wings, or tegmina, are usually narrow and leathery. They function as camouflage and as a shield for the hindwings, which are clearer and more delicate. The abdomen of all mantises consists of 10 tergites, with a corresponding set of nine sternites visible in males and seven visible in females. The abdomen tends to be slimmer in males than females, but ends in a pair of cerci in both sexes.


Vision

Mantises have stereo vision. They locate their prey by sight; their compound eyes contain up to 10,000
ommatidia The compound eyes of arthropods like insects, crustaceans and millipedes are composed of units called ommatidia (singular: ommatidium). An ommatidium contains a cluster of photoreceptor cells surrounded by support cells and pigment cells. The ou ...
. A small area at the front called the fovea has greater visual acuity than the rest of the eye, and can produce the high resolution necessary to examine potential prey. The peripheral ommatidia are concerned with perceiving motion; when a moving object is noticed, the head is rapidly rotated to bring the object into the visual field of the fovea. Further motions of the prey are then tracked by movements of the mantis's head so as to keep the image centered on the fovea. The eyes are widely spaced and laterally situated, affording a wide binocular field of vision and precise stereoscopic vision at close range. The dark spot on each eye that moves as it rotates its head is a
pseudopupil In the compound eye of invertebrates such as insects and crustaceans, the pseudopupil appears as a dark spot which moves across the eye as the animal is rotated. This occurs because the ommatidia that one observes "head-on" (along their optica ...
. This occurs because the ommatidia that are viewed "head-on" absorb the incident light, while those to the side reflect it. As their hunting relies heavily on vision, mantises are primarily diurnal. Many species, however, fly at night, and then may be attracted to artificial lights. Mantises in the family
Liturgusidae Liturgusidae is a family of praying mantids in the new (2019) Neotropical superfamily Acanthopoidea. A substantial number of genera, previously placed here, have recently been moved to the new or revived other families: * Dactylopterygidae * ...
collected at night have been shown to be predominately males; this is probably true for most mantises. Nocturnal flight is especially important to males in locating less-mobile females by detecting their pheromones. Flying at night exposes mantises to fewer bird predators than diurnal flight would. Many mantises also have an auditory thoracic organ that helps them avoid bats by detecting their echolocation calls and responding evasively.


Diet and hunting

Mantises are generalist predators of arthropods. The majority of mantises are ambush predators that only feed upon live prey within their reach. They either camouflage themselves and remain stationary, waiting for prey to approach, or stalk their prey with slow, stealthy movements. Larger mantises sometimes eat smaller individuals of their own species, as well as small vertebrates such as lizards, frogs, fish, and particularly small birds. Most mantises stalk tempting prey if it strays close enough, and will go further when they are especially hungry. Once within reach, mantises strike rapidly to grasp the prey with their spiked raptorial forelegs. Some ground and bark species pursue their prey in a more active way. For example, members of a few genera such as the ground mantises, ''Entella'', ''Ligaria'', and ''Ligariella'' run over dry ground seeking prey, much as tiger beetles do. The fore gut of some species extends the whole length of the insect and can be used to store prey for digestion later. This may be advantageous in an insect that feeds intermittently.
Chinese mantis The Chinese mantis (''Tenodera sinensis'') is a species of mantis native to Asia and the nearby islands. In 1896 this species was accidentally introduced by a nursery tender at Mt. Airy near Philadelphia, United States. ''Tenodera sinensis'' oft ...
es live longer, grow faster, and produce more young when they are able to eat
pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...
.


Antipredator adaptations

Mantises are preyed on by vertebrates such as frogs, lizards, and birds, and by invertebrates such as spiders, large species of hornets, and ants. Some hunting wasps, such as some species of ''
Tachytes ''Tachytes'' is a genus of predatory, solitary wasps, containing about 300 species. Etymology The name of the genus derives from the Greek ταχύτης (''tachytes''), meaning swiftness or speed. Distribution These wasps have a worldwide dis ...
'' also paralyze some species of mantis to feed their young. Generally, mantises protect themselves by camouflage, most species being cryptically colored to resemble foliage or other backgrounds, both to avoid predators and to better snare their prey. Those that live on uniformly colored surfaces such as bare earth or tree bark are dorsoventrally flattened so as to eliminate shadows that might reveal their presence. The species from different families called flower mantises are
aggressive mimics Aggressive mimicry is a form of mimicry in which predators, parasites, or parasitoids share similar signals, using a harmless model, allowing them to avoid being correctly identified by their prey or host. Zoologists have repeatedly compared ...
: they resemble flowers convincingly enough to attract prey that come to collect pollen and nectar. Some species in Africa and Australia are able to turn black after a molt towards the end of the dry season; at this time of year, bush fires occur and this coloration enables them to blend in with the fire-ravaged landscape ( fire melanism). When directly threatened, many mantis species stand tall and spread their forelegs, with their wings fanning out wide. The fanning of the wings makes the mantis seem larger and more threatening, with some species enhancing this effect with bright colors and patterns on their hindwings and inner surfaces of their front legs. If harassment persists, a mantis may strike with its forelegs and attempt to pinch or bite. As part of the bluffing (
deimatic Deimatic behaviour or startle display means any pattern of bluffing behaviour in an animal that lacks strong defences, such as suddenly displaying conspicuous eyespots, to scare off or momentarily distract a predator, thus giving the prey anim ...
) threat display, some species may also produce a hissing sound by expelling air from the abdominal
spiracle Spiracle or spiraculum may refer to: * Spiracle (arthropods), opening in the exoskeletons of some arthropods * Spiracle (vertebrates), openings on the surface of some vertebrates * Spiraculum, a genus of land snails in family Cyclophoridae Cycl ...
s. Mantises lack chemical protection, so their displays are largely bluff. When flying at night, at least some mantises are able to detect the echolocation sounds produced by bats; when the frequency begins to increase rapidly, indicating an approaching bat, they stop flying horizontally and begin a descending spiral toward the safety of the ground, often preceded by an aerial loop or spin. If caught, they may slash captors with their raptorial legs. Mantises, like
stick insect The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida, Phasmatoptera or Spectra) are an order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick-bugs, walking sticks, stick animals, or bug sticks. They are also occasionally referred to as ...
s, show rocking behavior in which the insect makes rhythmic, repetitive side-to-side movements. Functions proposed for this behavior include the enhancement of
crypsis In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an animal or a plant to avoid observation or detection by other animals. It may be a predation strategy or an antipredator adaptation. Methods include camouflage, nocturnality, subterranean lifestyle and ...
by means of the resemblance to vegetation moving in the wind. However, the repetitive swaying movements may be most important in allowing the insects to discriminate objects from the background by their relative movement, a visual mechanism typical of animals with simpler sight systems. Rocking movements by these generally sedentary insects may replace flying or running as a source of relative motion of objects in the visual field. As ants may be predators of mantises, genera such as ''
Loxomantis ''Aethalochroa'' is a genus of praying mantis in the family Toxoderidae. * '' Aethalochroa affinis'' * '' Aethalochroa ashmoliana'' (Iranian stick mantis) * '' Aethalochroa indica'' * '' Aethalochroa insignis'' (Indian stick mantis) * '' Aethalo ...
'', ''
Orthodera ''Orthodera'' is a genus of praying mantises that can be found in Australia and Southeast Asia, with one species ('' Orthodera novaezealandiae'') said to be the only native species of mantis of New Zealand.Ramsay, G. W. 1990. Mantodea (Insecta) ...
'', and ''
Statilia ''Statilia'' is a genus of praying mantis that resembles dead or living grass. ''Statilia'' species live in Australia, Africa, Asia and islands. Species The ''Mantodea Species File'' lists: *'' Statilia agresta'' Zheng, 1987 *'' Statilia apical ...
'', like many other arthropods, avoid attacking them. Exploiting this behavior, a variety of arthropods, including some early-instar mantises, mimic ants to evade their predators. Choeradodis stalii MHNT dos.jpg, Leaf
mimicry In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry f ...
: '' Choeradodis'' has leaf-like forewings and a widened green thorax. Gottesanbeterin Abwehr.JPG, Adult female ''
Iris oratoria ''Iris oratoria'', known by the common name Mediterranean mantis (or less frequently iris mantis), due to humans first studying it in lands around the Mediterranean Sea, is a species of praying mantis. Its range is expanding in the Middle East, ...
'' performs a bluffing threat display, rearing back with the forelegs and wings spread and mouth opened. Gemmatus.jpg, The jeweled flower mantis, ''
Creobroter gemmatus ''Creobroter gemmatus'', common name jeweled flower mantis, is a species of praying mantis native to Asia. Description Males grow to about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) and females are slightly larger. They prefer a humid environment and live about ...
'': the brightly colored wings are opened suddenly in a
deimatic display Deimatic behaviour or startle display means any pattern of bluffing behaviour in an animal that lacks strong defences, such as suddenly displaying conspicuous eyespots, to scare off or momentarily distract a predator, thus giving the prey anima ...
to startle predators. Ant-Mantis.jpg, Some mantis nymphs mimic ants to avoid predators.


Reproduction and life history

The mating season in temperate climates typically takes place in autumn, while in tropical areas, mating can occur at any time of the year. To mate following courtship, the male usually leaps onto the female's back, clasping her thorax and wing bases with his forelegs. He then arches his abdomen to deposit and store sperm in a special chamber near the tip of the female's abdomen. The female lays between 10 and 400 eggs, depending on the species. Eggs are typically deposited in a froth mass-produced by
gland In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...
s in the abdomen. This froth hardens, creating a protective capsule, which together with the egg mass is called an ootheca. Depending on the species, the ootheca can be attached to a flat surface, wrapped around a plant, or even deposited in the ground. Despite the versatility and durability of the eggs, they are often preyed on, especially by several species of parasitoid wasps. In a few species, mostly ground and bark mantises in the family
Tarachodidae Tarachodidae is a now obsolete family in the order Mantodea, of genera found in Africa and Asia. Former subfamilies The family previously consisted of two subfamilies of "bark mantises": Caliridinae These genera have now been moved to the new fa ...
, the mother guards the eggs. The cryptic ''
Tarachodes maurus ''Tarachodes maurus'' is a species of praying mantis in the family Eremiaphilidae. It was first described by the Swiss entomologist Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure in 1871. It has been placed in either subgenus ''Chiropacha'' or subgenus ''Ta ...
'' positions herself on bark with her abdomen covering her egg capsule, ambushing passing prey and moving very little until the eggs hatch. An unusual reproductive strategy is adopted by Brunner's stick mantis from the southern United States; no males have ever been found in this species, and the females breed
parthenogenetically Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek grc, παρθένος, translit=parthénos, lit=virgin, label=none + grc, γένεσις, translit=génesis, lit=creation, label=none) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development ...
. The ability to reproduce by parthenogenesis has been recorded in at least two other species, ''
Sphodromantis viridis ''Sphodromantis viridis'' is a species of praying mantis that is kept worldwide as a pet. Its common names include African mantis, giant African mantis, and bush mantis. Name ''Sphodromantis viridis'' is popularly called the African mantis, but ...
'' and ''Miomantis'' sp., although these species usually reproduce sexually. In temperate climates, adults do not survive the winter and the eggs undergo a diapause, hatching in the spring. As in closely related insect groups in the superorder Dictyoptera, mantises go through three life stages: egg, nymph, and adult (mantises are among the hemimetabolous insects). For smaller species, the eggs may hatch in 3–4 weeks as opposed to 4–6 weeks for larger species. The nymphs may be colored differently from the adult, and the early stages are often mimics of ants. A mantis nymph grows bigger as it molts its exoskeleton. Molting can happen five to 10 times before the adult stage is reached, depending on the species. After the final molt, most species have wings, though some species remain wingless or brachypterous ("short-winged"), particularly in the female sex. The lifespan of a mantis depends on the species; smaller ones may live 4–8 weeks, while larger species may live 4–6 months. File:Mantis religiosa couple.JPG, ''
Mantis religiosa The European mantis (''Mantis religiosa'') is a large hemimetabolic insect in the family of the Mantidae ('mantids'), which is the largest family of the order Mantodea (mantises). Their common name praying mantis is derived from the distinctive ...
'' mating (brown male, green female) File:Mantis laying ootheca.jpg, ''
Stagmomantis carolina The Carolina mantis (''Stagmomantis carolina'') is a species of praying mantis of the subfamily Stagmomantinae. Sexual cannibalism occurs in roughly one quarter of all intersexual encounters of this species, though specimens of this species wi ...
'' laying ootheca File:Mantis religiosa (egg case).jpg, Recently laid ''M. religiosa'' ootheca File:PrayingMantisesJustBorn (cropped).jpg, Hatching from the ootheca File:Sphodromantis Lineola molting.jpg, ''
Sphodromantis lineola ''Sphodromantis lineola'', common name African mantis or African praying mantis, is a species of praying mantis from Africa sometimes raised in captivity. ''S. lineola'' is often colored green, however they can also be colored different types of ...
'' molting


Sexual cannibalism

Sexual cannibalism is common among most predatory species of mantises in captivity. It has sometimes been observed in natural populations, where about a quarter of male-female encounters result in the male being eaten by the female. Around 90% of the predatory species of mantises exhibit sexual cannibalism. Adult males typically outnumber females at first, but their numbers may be fairly equivalent later in the adult stage, possibly because females selectively eat the smaller males. In ''
Tenodera sinensis The Chinese mantis (''Tenodera sinensis'') is a species of mantis native to Asia and the nearby islands. In 1896 this species was accidentally introduced by a nursery tender at Mt. Airy near Philadelphia, United States. ''Tenodera sinensis'' oft ...
'', 83% of males escape cannibalism after an encounter with a female, but since multiple matings occur, the probability of a male's being eaten increases cumulatively. The female may begin feeding by biting off the male's head (as they do with regular prey), and if mating has begun, the male's movements may become even more vigorous in its delivery of sperm. Early researchers thought that because copulatory movement is controlled by a
ganglion A ganglion is a group of neuron cell bodies in the peripheral nervous system. In the somatic nervous system this includes dorsal root ganglia and trigeminal ganglia among a few others. In the autonomic nervous system there are both sympatheti ...
in the abdomen, not the head, removal of the male's head was a reproductive strategy by females to enhance fertilization while obtaining sustenance. Later, this behavior appeared to be an artifact of intrusive laboratory observation. Whether the behavior is natural in the field or also the result of distractions caused by the human observer remains controversial. Mantises are highly visual organisms and notice any disturbance in the laboratory or field, such as bright lights or moving scientists. Chinese mantises that had been fed '' ad libitum'' (so that they were not hungry) actually displayed elaborate courtship behavior when left undisturbed. The male engages the female in a courtship dance, to change her interest from feeding to mating. Under such circumstances, the female has been known to respond with a defensive deimatic display by flashing the colored eyespots on the inside of her front legs. The reason for sexual cannibalism has been debated; experiments show that females on poor diets are likelier to engage in sexual cannibalism than those on good diets. Some hypothesize that submissive males gain a selective advantage by producing offspring; this is supported by a quantifiable increase in the duration of copulation among males which are cannibalized, in some cases doubling both the duration and the chance of fertilization. This is contrasted by a study where males were seen to approach hungry females with more caution, and were shown to remain mounted on hungry females for a longer time, indicating that males that actively avoid cannibalism may mate with multiple females. The same study also found that hungry females generally attracted fewer males than those that were well fed. The act of dismounting after copulation is dangerous for males, for it is the time that females most frequently cannibalize their mates. An increase in mounting duration appears to indicate that males wait for an opportune time to dismount a hungry female, who would be likely to cannibalize her mate. Experiments have revealed that the sex ratio in an environment determines male copulatory behavior of ''Mantis religiosa'' which in turn affects the cannibalistic tendencies of the female and support the sperm competition hypothesis because the polyandrous treatment recorded the highest copulation duration time and lowest cannibalism. This further suggests that dismounting the female can make males susceptible to cannibalism.


Relationship with humans


In culture, literature and art

One of the earliest mantis references is in the ancient Chinese dictionary ''
Erya The ''Erya'' or ''Erh-ya'' is the first surviving Chinese dictionary. Bernhard Karlgren (1931:49) concluded that "the major part of its glosses must reasonably date from the 3rd century BC." Title Chinese scholars interpret the first title chara ...
'', which gives its attributes in poetry, where it represents courage and fearlessness, and a brief description. A later text, the ''Jingshi Zhenglei Daguan Bencao '' ("Great History of Medical Material Annotated and Arranged by Types, Based upon the Classics and Historical Works") from 1108, gives accurate details of the construction of the egg packages, the development cycle, anatomy, and the function of the antennae. Although mantises are rarely mentioned in Ancient Greek sources, a female mantis in threat posture is accurately illustrated on a series of fifth-century BC silver coins, including didrachms, from
Metapontum Metapontum or Metapontium ( grc, Μεταπόντιον, Metapontion) was an important city of Magna Graecia, situated on the gulf of Tarentum, between the river Bradanus and the Casuentus (modern Basento). It was distant about 20 km from ...
in Lucania. In the 10th century AD, Byzantine era ''Adages'',
Suidas The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...
describes an insect resembling a slow-moving green locust with long front legs. He translates
Zenobius Zenobius ( grc-gre, Ζηνόβιος) was a Greek sophist, who taught rhetoric at Rome during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (AD 117–138). Biography He was the author of a collection of proverbs in three books, still extant in an abridged form, ...
2.94 with the words ''seriphos'' (maybe a mantis) and ''graus'', an old woman, implying a thin, dried-up stick of a body. Mantises are a common motif in Luna Polychrome ceramics of pre-Columbian Nicaragua, and are believed to represent a deity or spirit called "Madre Culebra". Western descriptions of the biology and morphology of the mantises became more accurate in the 18th century. Roesel von Rosenhof illustrated and described mantises and their cannibalistic behavior in the ' (''Insect Entertainments''). In the early 1900's, people in the United States Ozarks region referred to them as Devil's horses. Aldous Huxley made philosophical observations about the nature of death while two mantises mated in the sight of two characters in his 1962 novel '' Island'' (the species was ''
Gongylus gongylodes ''Gongylus gongylodes'', also known as the wandering violin mantis, ornate mantis, or Indian rose mantis, is a species of praying mantis in the family Empusidae. Characterized by extremely slender limbs with large appendages, it is not a particu ...
''). The naturalist Gerald Durrell's humorously autobiographical 1956 book '' My Family and Other Animals'' includes a four-page account of an almost evenly matched battle between a mantis and a
gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ...
. Shortly before the fatal '' dénouement'', Durrell narrates:
M. C. Escher Maurits Cornelis Escher (; 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. Despite wide popular interest, Escher was for most of his life neglected in t ...
's woodcut ''Dream'' depicts a human-sized mantis standing on a sleeping bishop. The 1957 film ''
The Deadly Mantis ''The Deadly Mantis'' is a 1957 American science fiction monster film produced by William Alland for Universal-International. The film was directed by Nathan Juran from a screenplay by Martin Berkeley based on a story by producer William Alland. ...
'' features a mantis as a
giant monster is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monster ...
. In the 1967 film ''
Son of Godzilla is a 1967 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Jun Fukuda, with special effects by Sadamasa Arikawa, under the supervision of Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the eighth film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise. It st ...
'' and other related films, the
kaiju is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monster ...
called "
Kamacuras is a kaiju film monster which first appeared in Toho's 1967 film ''Son of Godzilla''. The name alludes to "kamakiri", the Japanese word for mantis. In its first appearance, the creature was called Gimantis in the U.S. version. Overview Showa In ...
" are giant mantis monsters. A cultural
trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...
imagines the female mantis as a ''
femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...
''. The idea is propagated in cartoons by Cable, Guy and Rodd, LeLievre, T. McCracken, and Mark Parisi, among others. It ends Isabella Rossellini's short film about the life of a praying mantis in her 2008 ''
Green Porno Green Porno is a series of short films on animal sexual behaviour. The series, which began in 2008 and aired on The Sundance Channel, is conceived, written, and directed by its star, Isabella Rossellini. In the eight films that comprise the first ...
'' season for the Sundance Channel. Zorak, a character from ''Space Ghost'', is also a mantis, and his species is a Dokarian.


Martial arts

Two
martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...
separately developed in China have movements and fighting strategies based on those of the mantis. As one of these arts was developed in northern China, and the other in southern parts of the country, the arts are today referred to (both in English and Chinese) as ' Northern Praying Mantis' and ' Southern Praying Mantis'. Both are very popular in China, and have also been exported to the West in recent decades.


In mythology and religion

According to local beliefs in Africa, this insect brings good luck. The mantis was revered by the southern African
Khoi Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also '' Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 May 2018. Citing G. S. ...
and San in whose cultures man and nature were intertwined; for its praying posture, the mantis was even named ' ("god of the Hottentots") in the Afrikaans language that had developed among the first European settlers. However, at least for the San, the mantis was only one of the manifestations of a trickster-deity,
ǀKaggen ǀKaggen pronounced (more accurately ǀKágge̥n or ǀKaggən, sometimes spelled as Cagn, aɡən and sometimes called Mantis) is a demiurge and folk hero of the ǀXam people of southern Africa. He is a trickster god who can shape shift, usual ...
, who could assume many other forms, such as a snake, hare or vulture. Several ancient civilizations did consider the insect to have supernatural powers; for the Greeks, it had the ability to show lost travelers the way home; in the Ancient Egyptian ''
Book of the Dead The ''Book of the Dead'' ( egy, 𓂋𓏤𓈒𓈒𓈒𓏌𓏤𓉐𓂋𓏏𓂻𓅓𓉔𓂋𓅱𓇳𓏤, ''rw n(y)w prt m hrw(w)'') is an ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom ...
'', the "bird-fly" is a minor god that leads the souls of the dead to the underworld; in a list of 9th-century BC
Nineveh Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ban ...
grasshoppers (''buru''), the mantis is named necromancer (''buru-enmeli'') and
soothsayer Soothsayer may refer to: * One practicing divination, including: ** Fortune-telling ** Haruspex ** Oracle ** Prophet ** Precognition Music * Soothsayers (band), a London-based Afrobeat and reggae group * ''The Soothsayer'', an album by Wayne ...
(''buru-enmeli-ashaga''). Some pre-Columbian cultures in western Nicaragua have preserved oral traditions of the mantis as "Madre Culebra", a powerful predator and symbol of female symbolic authority.


As pets

Mantises are among the insects most widely kept as pets. Because the lifespan of a mantis is only about a year, people who want to keep mantises often breed them. In 2013 at least 31 species were kept and bred in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. In 1996 at least 50 species were known to be kept in captivity by members of the Mantis Study Group. '' The Independent'' described the "giant Asian praying mantis" as "part stick insect with a touch of Buddhist monk", and stated that they needed a vivarium around 30 cm (12 in) on each side. ''The Daily South'' argued that a pet insect was no weirder than a pet rat or
ferret The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, Domestication, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), evidenced by their Hybrid (biol ...
, and that while a pet mantis was unusual, it would not "bark, shed, rneed shots or a litter box".


For pest control

Naturally occurring mantis populations provide plant pest control. Gardeners who prefer to avoid
pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...
s may encourage mantises in the hope of controlling insect pests. However, mantises do not have key attributes of
biological pest control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also invo ...
agents; they do not specialize in a single pest insect, and do not multiply rapidly in response to an increase in such a prey species, but are general predators. They eat whatever they can catch, including both harmful and beneficial insects. They therefore have "negligible value" in biological control. Two species, the Chinese mantis and the European mantis, were deliberately introduced to North America in the hope that they would serve as pest controls for agriculture; they have spread widely in both the United States and Canada.


Mantis-like robot

A prototype robot inspired by the forelegs of the praying mantis has front legs that allow the robot to walk, climb steps, and grasp objects. The multi-jointed leg provides dexterity via a rotatable joint. Future models may include a more spiked foreleg to improve the grip and ability to support more weight.


References


External links

* *
Mantis Study Group
– Information on mantises, phylogenetics and evolution.
Mantodea Species File
{{Authority control Extant Cretaceous first appearances Insects used as insect pest control agents Insects in culture Taxa named by Hermann Burmeister