Appearance
Praying mantids are facinaiting insects that can come in many different shapes and sizes, but all share a list of common characteristics. Let’s break it down.
LIke all insects, the praying mantis has six legs, two of which have beeen modifed into raptorial claws used for hunting. The claws are covered in sharp spines and are packed with muscle to help them clamp down on prey. Praying mantids also have huge compoud eyes wich give them excelent vision. Along with this, they also have an extra set of three simpler eyes called ocelli. These creatures have long, slender bodies to help them camoflauge into their environment. Colours vary between species and individual specimens but the vast majority come in one of two colours: brown or green. Some species of praying mantis also develope wings as the maturer. These wings are not only used for flight, but to startle predators as the hiden underwings tend to have bright coulours or eye spots. It also makes them look much larger. Praying mantids also have one ear, which is positioned under the abomen. Theses bugs have very interesting appearances, making them a popular choise in the pet trade.
Diet
All mantis species are carnivorous. A mantis will eat a variety of different organisms throughout its life. A mantis will eat prey about the size of its abdomen but some will eat prey several times its own size. For the first few days of its life, a mantis will most likely not eat, but after this period the mantises will start to eat things like mosquitos, fruit flies and aphids. As the mantis grows, the size of its prey also increases. After its first few moults, the mantis will start to eat things like small moths, pinhead crickets and other small invertebrates. When it reaches adulthood, it will eat a variety of different foods such as crickets, grasshoppers, katydids, cockroaches, moths, butterflies, damselflies, dragonflies and other smaller mantises. However, a mantis will not just eat invertebrates, but also frogs, fish, lizards and small birds such as humming birds. This is not a rare occurrence and happens in several countries. Mantises can also eat honey.
Life Cycle
There a two different ways that an insect can develop: complete metamorphosis (4 stages) and incomplete metamorphosis (3 stages). Praying mantises go through incomplete metamorphosis. All mantises start their life in a foamy egg sack called an ootheca which varies in size and colour based on the species. The female mantis will normally lay 2-3 oothecas in her life but some lay over 5, each consisting of around 300 mantis nymphs (babies). The female can lay her first egg sack the day after mating if she has the right amount of nutrients. Once laid, it will take 3-6 weeks for the mantises to hatch. When they hatch, they shed a clear membrane before starting their life. They will moult 7-9 times before reaching adulthood. If they are not a wingless species, the mantis will grow wings in its final moult. In early autumn, the females will lay their eggs to renew the cycle and die out shortly after. A mantis will live for 6-18 months.
Moulting
Many say that moulting is the riskiest time of a mantis’s life. A mantis has to overcome this risk 7-9 times throughout their life. It will take 10-45 minutes for a mantis to successfully moult. If a mantis is to fall while moulting, it will most likely end up with defects or die. If it is too dry, the mantis will fail to emerge and pass away. The same goes for the mantis if it does not have enough energy to fully emerge. Never touch a moulting or freshly moulted mantis as you are likely to damage its exoskeleton or kill it. You should only ever intervene with the moulting if the mantis is going to fall and there is no other option. After its last moult, the newly mature mantis will spread and dry its brand-new wings unless it is a wingless species. Not all mantises with wings can fly. A few weeks later, the mantis will mate and then when the temperature starts to drop, the mantis will die. Mantises will not eat their moult and this moult will be an almost perfect replica of the actual mantis.
Parasites & Predators
The main parasite that mantises have to face is the horse hair worm. They are a kind of endoparasite and there are around 350 species known but there may be over 2000! Some species can reproduce parthenogenically, meaning that they can reproduce without a mate. The adults are between 2.5 -100 cm long. Thet start their life in an egg string, then hatch into larva. Soon the get eaten by aquatic insects which then get eaten by other insects on land, like praying mantises. The hair worm then starts to eat the mantis’s fat reserves and grows for 1-2 months. During this period, the mantis cannot develop, mate or reproduce. Finaly, the hair worm has to return to the water, so it controls the mantis’s brain, attracting it to the polarized light that water creates. While in the body of water, it is easy for the mantis to become food for fish, frogs and birds. However, if the mantis makes it back to land safely, it will most likely survive. Some of the mantises predators are spiders, bats, birds and lizards. The main predator that a mantis has to worry about is other larger mantises as most mantis species are extremely cannibalistic.
Social Behaviour
Mantises are not social animals. The majority of species cannot be kept in groups in close proximity as they will injure and even kill one another. However, certain species, like the wandering violin mantis and the ghost mantis can be housed together with a low chance of cannibalism when there is a large source of food. Boxer mantises even have a way of communication to avoid fighting altogether. They wave around their raptorial arms as a sort of warning so neither of them have to die. Other species of mantises also show striking displays to ward off predators, such as the spiney flower mantis and the thorny devils flower mantis.
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