Insects range from beautiful butterflies to everyday ants to creepy spiders and everything in between. Praying mantids are in between with their strange looks and fatal forelegs.
A praying mantis specimenMantids are not as common as ants, grasshoppers or spiders. Usually, you will accidentally find them. Praying mantids are typically green or brown and blend in well with their surroundings.
Mantids are not as common as ants, grasshoppers or spiders. Usually, you will accidentally find them. Praying mantids are typically green or brown and blend in well with their surroundings.
Their remarkable camouflage allows them to sit and wait for prey and helps them avoid being prey. A mantis will remain motionless while waiting for prey to pass by. Sometimes, they will gently rock side to side as if swaying in a breeze. Mantids will eat moths, crickets, grasshoppers, flies and even each other.
As it waits, the mantis holds its forelegs folded against its prothorax in preparation to snatch an insect. This pose suggests an attitude of prayer and is how the praying mantis received its name.
A mantis can swivel its head 180 degrees, giving it a wide field of vision. Its two compound eyes and three single eyes between the two eyes allows it to gauge the distance of moving objects up to 60 feet away.
If the insect is within range, the mantis will slowly swivel its head and prothorax in the insect’s direction and will then quickly snatch the insect with its spined forelegs.
Some mantids are fast enough to snatch a passing fly or flying insect out of the air. However, if an insect remains motionless, a mantis will not recognize it as prey and may walk past it or even over it without responding.
Once the insect is in the mantid’s pincerlike grip, the mantis begins to devour the insect alive because its strong grip prevents the prey from escaping.
Spiny forelegs and triangular head characterize the praying mantis
When mantids are on the other end of the food chain, they have defensive strategies to survive. Birds, lizards, insectivorous mammals, bats and spiders eat mantids. To avoid predators, mantids can quickly run away, launch into flight or expose bright-colored markings. If those strategies don’t work and the predator approaches too closely, the mantis will immediately strike with its spined forelegs (even on the curious human).
If picked up, the mantis will bend its forelegs backwards over its prothorax and use its spines to ensure it is dropped or held more carefully.
If the mantid is only being held by a mid- or hind-leg, it will sacrifice it to escape, just like western skinks do with their tails. The mantis can contract a special muscle at the base of the leg to release it while it pulls away. If the mantid is young, the leg will grow back.
A mantid will not sacrifice its front legs because without front legs it cannot catch food.
Mantids are one of the species that will eat their own kind. Female adults will eat other female’s young and in some species, the female with eat the male before, during or after mating.
The spiny forelegs and triangular head are the two identifying characteristics of the strange-looking praying mantis. If you find one and want a closer look, just be careful of the spiny forelegs.
