What is praying mantis?
Praying mantis are among the most well-known insect predators. Mantis are carnivorous, eating anything smaller than themselves. They are stealth predators. They eat other invertebrates, but they can also attack small frogs, lizards, and even hummingbirds. To follow and catch their prey, they rely on superior vision, camouflage, and stealth. Mantids are not venomous, but they can defend themselves with sharp blows of their claws if they feel threatened. Human injuries are uncommon and usually results due to prolonged teasing.
Description of praying mantis
Mantids are insects and are diurnal, which means they are active during the daytime. Praying mantids usually are between 2 and 2½ inches (50 to 65 mm) long from head to wing tip, but some are larger. They have large eyes. The body is long and green to brown in color, depending on the species and location. Praying mantids have six legs and two antennae. The front legs are spiny, making it easy for mantids to hold onto their prey. A mantis’s body often looks like the leaves of the plant on which it lives. Since mantids are territorial, only one mantis will be on a single plant. A mantis usually stays on the same plant as long as food is available. In the wild, mantids get all the water they need from the insects they eat and from dew collected on leaves.
Mantids go through a life cycle called incomplete metamorphosis. This means the baby looks like a miniature adult; mantids do not have a larval stage like lady beetles or butterflies. Their lifespan is short; most mantids live less than a year. A female mantis lays 12 to 400 eggs in the fall. The eggs are surrounded by a liquid that hardens and protects the eggs. The adult mantids die before winter, but the eggs survive the winter in this hardened egg case, called an ootheca. When spring arrives, baby mantids, called nymphs, hatch and look for food.
Some interesting facts about Praying mantis
- Female praying mantids sometimes eat males after mating.
- Mantids have five eyes—two compound (with multiple lenses) and three simple.
- Praying mantids got their name because it looks like they are praying when they rub their front legs together.
- Mantids have triangular heads and long, flexible necks bend easily, allowing them to turn their heads 180° from side to side, giving them a 300° field of vision. They can spot the slightest movement from up to 60 feet away.
- They prefer to eat only live prey.
- The closest relatives of mantis are cockroaches and termites.
- Sometimes called an “auditory cyclops,” most mantids have only one ear and it’s between their mid- and hind legs. They only hear high frequency sounds—like the echolocation calls of their great aerial predator, bats.
Nature’s perfect killer insect
The strange praying stance of the praying mantid is not an act of reverence but rather the position that this fierce predators takes while patiently waiting to ambush other insects. They are the insect world’s martial artists. Their robust forelegs are armed with rows of overlapping spikes that they employ to catch and pin their prey while devouring it with their strong, keen mandibles. They utilize their entire arms like razor blades, with reactions so fast that they can’t be seen with the naked eye. Praying mantids pinpoint the distance to their prey quickly and in 3D, thanks to their flexible necks and two over dimensioned eyes.
Which insect or pest it can feed on??
- mosquitoes,
- moths,
- wasps,
- flies,
- aphids,
- caterpillars,
- mites,
- cockroaches
- beetles,
- weevils,
- bugs,
- butterflies,
- They even dare to feed on frogs, mice, lizards and humming birds
Are praying mantis friend of Farmer???
Praying mantises are considered to be useful insects to farmers since they eat on a variety of insects, including flies, moths, and beetles, many of which are pests to crops and gardens. Praying mantises help to regulate bug populations and decrease the harm they can do by eating them. Praying mantises serve to maintain ecosystem balance by managing pest populations and preventing insect overcrowding, which can be damaging to crops and gardens. Praying mantises are a safe and natural technique to manage pest populations without the use of hazardous pesticides. This has the potential to benefit both the environment and human health by reducing the demand for chemical pesticides.
Although mantids are considered beneficial, it is crucial to remember that when looking for food, mantids do not distinguish between good and bad bugs. A praying mantis is just as likely to consume a native bee pollinating plants as it will consume caterpillar pest. Praying mantises, in general, are beneficial insects that play crucial roles in preserving environmental equilibrium. They are not only essential predators, but they also play a part in many ecosystems’ food webs, acting as both predator and prey. We may contribute to sustain the health of the local ecosystem by attracting praying mantises to our garden and controlling insect populations.
Tips for attracting praying mantis to our gardens
- Praying mantises feed on insects, therefore planting a range of native blooming plants that generate nectar and other insect-attracting meals will assist to attract them to our garden.
- Praying mantises prefer to hide in tall grasses and shrubs, so growing these types of plants can offer them with a spot to rest and hide from predators.
- Pesticides can kill praying mantises and other beneficial insects; therefore we should avoid using them in our gardens. To control pest populations, other natural approaches such as companion planting and hand picking of pests might be used.
- Praying mantises require a supply of water to survive; therefore providing with water supply can help attract them.
- Shelter, such as a small shed or a stack of wooden boards, can provide a safe spot for praying mantises to lay their eggs.
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