All about praying mantises. unearthly creature. Why is the praying mantis so called? Mantises: appearance and structural features

The praying mantis is an interesting insect. Do you know about it?

The praying mantis has 5 eyes

Yes, five eyes! You think two is enough, don't you? Not for praying people! They have large compound eyes - the ones you can easily spot. And three small simple eyes located in the middle of the head. They are used to detect light, while big eyes see movement and volume. Many other species of insects have similar vision.

Five eyes: two large and three simple eyes (ocelli) in the middle of the head

Some praying mantises have one ear on their abdomen.

Five eyes but one ear? Yes, they are crazy! Not every species has developed hearing, only a few. The auditory organ is located in the middle of the abdomen, between the last pair of legs. Their ear is different from ours because it can only hear high-pitched sounds. Other sounds can only be felt as vibrations, not as real hearing. Why does the praying mantis want to hear only high pitched sounds? To avoid bats! When the praying mantis flies, it can easily become their victim. At night, bats feed on any flying insects, finding them with the help of echolocation. They emit a high-pitched squeak of a certain tonality and listen to the sound reflected from a flying insect and returned back. When a flying praying mantis hears a high-pitched squeak, it means that there is bat. In order not to be eaten, he makes an unexpected movement and falls to the ground, hoping that the bat is not ready for such a turn and will miss the prey. Species that have lost wings and therefore move only by walking have also lost the ability to hear.

There is a praying mantis that looks like an orchid

When I found out about this, I was amazed. This is not just a white and pink praying mantis, which is striking in itself, it really looks like a flower. Including petals, a small green border and some veined lines on the back. This species is called the orchid praying mantis (in Latin Hymenopus coronatus). You have to believe to see... More photos can be found on the view page.

Orchid praying mantis "pretending" to be an orchid

Praying mantis does not back down in the face of danger

The praying mantis is not that big. Even large species are not so large, no more than 11 cm in length. Of course, they do not match the strength of an ordinary dog ​​or cat. Do you think the praying mantis cares? Not at all. Sometimes the best defense is an attack. Instead of running away from the threat, he will stay put and try to look bigger. He will raise his wings, spread his front legs and try to stretch as high as possible. It may even wiggle left and right to appear more intimidating. It works? Actually, yes! Animals not particularly interested in eating the praying mantis or yet inexperienced are a little suspicious of prey that does not run away. It can be poisonous, inedible or dangerous. Better to be careful and not get too close. In addition, in some species of praying mantis, in the process of evolution, a bright coloring the inside of the front paws or lower wings. At rest, it is not visible, but when attacked, it flickers, frightening the aggressor.

Female Stagmomantis limbata scares the camera

Following short video shows a praying mantis attempting to intimidate an attacker with characteristic "dance" movements.

One female praying mantis can have up to 1000 babies.

Did you know that one mantis can give birth to more than a thousand children? After mating, she will lay egg capsules called ootheca, each of which can contain over 200 eggs. And she can lay down about 6 pieces! Not every species is so productive, some have much more fewer eggs. To "bear" so many children, she does not need to mate again every time - once is enough.

Praying mantises will attack prey that is much larger than them.

Most praying mantises are not shy and go for big kills. If they detect prey, they will attack it. They will not be stopped by such a trifle that the prey turned out to be much larger than a predator. Amazing courage, if you remember that the praying mantis has no poison. He simply holds the prey with only power and begins to eat it. It is much easier for spiders to do this, as they quickly paralyze their prey with venom. There are reports of wild praying mantises taking hummingbirds, mice, small lizards, huge spiders and other equally sized mantises. This is how they only work large species, such as Asian, Chinese, African or short-winged mantises. Smaller species rely more on camouflage and use more careful hunting methods. You won't see a violin mantis or a ghost attacking large prey.

This video shows a large female hunting a spider and then nearly falling prey to another female of the same species.

The praying mantis is perhaps one of the most amazing and strange insects on our planet, both in its habits and way of life, some features of which can slightly (or even strongly) shock us people. Yes, we are talking about the famous mating habits of praying mantises, when the female praying mantis after the mating process (and sometimes right during the process) eats her unlucky cavalier. But, of course, praying mantises are not only remarkable for this, and in our today's article we will tell you about all aspects of the life of these unusual insects.

Origin of the name praying mantis

The academic name for the praying mantis back in 1758 was given by the great Swedish naturalist Karl Liney, who drew attention to the fact that the pose of the praying mantis, which is in ambush and guarding prey, is very similar to the pose of a man who folded his hands in prayer to God. Because of such a striking similarity, the scientist gave the insect Latin name“Mantis religiosa”, which literally translates as “religious priest”, the name “praying mantis” itself came into our language.

Although it is not called that everywhere, our hero also has other, by no means so blissful names, for example, in Spain he is called Caballito del Diablo - the devil's horse or simply - muerte - death. Such creepy names are obviously associated with no less creepy habits of praying mantises.

What does a praying mantis look like: structure and characteristics

The structure of the praying mantis is characterized by an elongated body, which distinguishes it from other arthropod insects.

The praying mantis is perhaps the only living creature that can easily turn its triangular shape, head all 360 degrees. Thanks to such a useful skill, he can see the enemy approaching from behind. He also has only one ear, but, despite this, just excellent hearing.

The praying mantis eyes of a complex faceted structure are located on the sides of the head, but in addition to them, our hero has three more simple eyes above the base of the antennae.

The antennae of praying mantises are comb-like, feathery or filiform, depending on the species of the insect.

Praying mantises, almost all of their species, have well-developed wings, but mainly only males can fly, females, due to their greater weight and size, are more difficult to fly than males. Praying mantis wings consist of two pairs: anterior and posterior, the anterior ones serve as a kind of elytra protecting the hindwings. Also, pilgrimage wings usually have bright colours, and sometimes they even meet original drawings. But among the many varieties of praying mantises, there is such an earthen praying mantis (Latin name Geomantis larvoides), which does not have wings at all.

Praying mantises have well-developed forelimbs, which have a rather complicated structure - each of them consists of many parts: trochanters, hips, shins and legs. From the bottom of the thigh there are large sharp spikes arranged in three rows. There are also spikes (albeit smaller ones) on the praying mantis shin, which is adorned with a sharp, needle-shaped hook at the end. See the picture for an exemplary structure of the praying mantis foot.

Praying mantises keep their prey just between the thigh and lower leg until their meal is over.

Praying mantises have a primitive circulation, but there is a reason for this - an unusual respiratory system. the praying mantis is supplied with a complex system of tracheae connected to dichals (stigmas) on the abdomen in the middle and posterior parts of the body. The trachea contains air sacs that enhance ventilation throughout the respiratory system.

Praying mantis sizes

We have already mentioned above that the female praying mantises are much larger than the males, oddly enough, this is their main sexual difference.

A species of praying mantis, called in Latin Ischnomantis gigas and living in Africa, can reach 17 cm in length, perhaps this representative of the praying kingdom is a real champion in size.

Ischnomantis gigas is the largest praying mantis in the world.

Heterochaeta orientalis or Heterochaeta orientalis is a little inferior to him, it reaches 16 cm in length. Ordinary praying mantises are much smaller, on average no more than 0.5-1.5 cm in length.

praying mantis color

Like many other insects, praying mantises have excellent camouflage abilities, this biological way protection from predators, because of this, their colors have, depending on environment, green, yellow and brown tones. Green mantises live on green leaves, while brown ones are inseparable from the bark of trees.

What does the praying mantis eat

It's no secret that our hero is a notorious predator who loves to eat like more small insects, and not afraid to attack prey larger than even himself. They eat flies, wasps, bumblebees, beetles, etc. Large representatives of the praying family (see above) can even attack small rodents, birds and small amphibians: frogs,.

Praying mantises usually attack from an ambush, suddenly grab the prey with their front paws and do not let go until they are completely eaten. strong jaws allow these gluttons to eat even relatively large prey.

Mantid Enemies

Although praying mantises are excellent predatory hunters, they themselves can also become prey for snakes, some birds or bats. But the main enemies of praying mantises, perhaps, are their own relatives - other praying mantises. There are often life-and-death fights between two rival praying mantises. The fights themselves, both between praying mantises and with other insects, are very spectacular, first of all, the praying mantis seeks to scare the opponent, for this he takes a special frightening pose - throws his front paws forward and lifts his belly up. All this may be accompanied by appropriate threatening sounds. Such a show of strength is by no means feigned, praying mantises are desperately brave and with courage rush even at a much larger opponent. Thanks to such courage and bravery, praying mantises often emerge victorious from such fights.

Where does the praying mantis live

Almost everywhere, since their habitat is very wide: Central and Southern Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa, Australia. They are not only in northern regions, since praying mantises are not very accustomed to the cold. But they are great, for example, hot and humid climate tropical Africa and South America. Praying mantises feel great in tropical forests, and in the steppe regions, and in stony deserts.

They rarely move from place to place, preferring their usual habitat to unknown distant places, the only reason that can encourage them to travel is the lack of food supply.

Types of praying mantises: photos and names

Scientists have estimated about 2000 various kinds praying mantises, we, unfortunately, will not be able to bring them all in our article, but we will describe, in our opinion, the most interesting representatives.

Mantis common lives in most countries of Europe, Asia, Africa. The common praying mantis is a very large representative of the praying kingdom, reaching up to 7 cm (female) and 6 cm (male). As a rule, they are green or brown in color, the wings are well developed, at least it is not a problem for the common praying mantis to fly from branch to branch. Abdomen ovoid. This type of praying mantis can be distinguished by a black spot, which is located on the coxae of the front pair of legs from the inside.

Obviously, China is the birthplace and main habitat of this species of praying mantis. The Chinese praying mantis is quite large, females reach up to 15 cm in length, but the size of males is much more modest. They are green and brown. A characteristic difference chinese praying mantis is their night image life, while their other relatives still sleep at night. Also, young individuals of Chinese praying mantises do not have wings, which grow only after several molts, at the same time they acquire the ability to fly.

The praying mantis Creobroter meleagris lives in southwest Asia: India, Vietnam, Cambodia and a number of other countries. Usually reach 5 cm in length. The colors are white and cream. You can recognize them by the light brown stripes that run throughout the body and head. Also on the wings they have one small and a large spot of white or cream color.

He is the mantis Creobroter gemmatus especially loves moist forests south india, Vietnam and other Asian countries. This species is small, females grow up to only 40 mm, males up to 38 mm. The body is more elongated than that of other relatives. And for additional protection, on the thighs of the Indian praying mantis there are special spikes different heights. Cream colored. Representatives of this species excellent fliers, and both males and females, due to their low weight, besides, both pairs of wings are well developed. Interestingly, on the front wings they have a spot similar to an eye with two pupils, which scares off predators. Flower mantises live, as their names imply, in the flowers of plants, where they guard their prey.

He is the praying mantis Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii lives in the countries of southern and East Africa. In terms of lifestyle, size, it is very similar to the Indian flower mantis. But its coloring is especially interesting - it is really artistic, on the upper pair of wings there is an interesting pattern resembling a spiral or even an eye. On the abdomen of this species there are additional spines that gave it its name.

Orchid praying mantis - in our opinion is the most beautiful representatives of the praying mantis in the world. It also received its name not casually, namely for resemblance with beautiful orchids, on which he actually hides in ambush in anticipation of the next victim. females orchid praying mantis exactly twice as many males: 80 mm versus 40. And even among other praying mantises, orchid mantises are distinguished by amazing courage, representatives of this species are not afraid to attack even insects that are twice their size.

Oriental heterochaete or spiky-eyed mantis is one of the largest mantises in the world (the female reaches 15 cm in length) and lives in most of Africa. These praying mantises live in the branches of bushes, for their benefit appearance also resembles twigs.

Mantis breeding

And here we move on to the most interesting part, namely the reproduction of mantises, which, as a rule, has a sad and tragic end for males. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, but let's start in order. Male praying mantises advancing mating season(usually in autumn), with the help of charm organs, they begin to search for females ready to mate. Finding one, he performs in front of her a special “ mating dance”, which translates it into the rank of a sexual partner. Then the mating process itself begins, during which the female praying mantis has a bad habit of biting off her male's head and then completely eating him. Some scientists believe that this behavior, which is more than terrible in our opinion, also has its own biological reasons - having eaten her “groom”, the female, in such a simple way, replenishes the reserves of protein nutrients necessary for future offspring.

Although it also happens that the male manages to get away from his “beloved” in time than to avoid the sad fate of food.

After some time, the fertilized female lays eggs, at the same time enveloping them with a special sticky secret that is secreted by their special glands. This secret serves as a kind of protective capsule for the eggs of future praying mantises and is called ootheca. The fertility of the female depends on her species, usually the female is able to lay from 10 to 400 eggs at a time.

Praying mantis larvae stay in the eggs from three weeks to six months, after which they crawl out of the eggs. Further them development is underway at a fairly fast pace and after about 4-8 molts, the larva is already reborn into an adult praying mantis.

Keeping praying mantises at home

Terrarium

A very exotic and unusual act would be to get yourself house praying mantis, is not it? However, there are people who have such “pets” and if you want to join them too, then the first thing you have to take care of is the terrarium. A relatively small, glass or plastic terrarium with a mesh cover is suitable, its dimensions should be at least three times the size of the praying mantis itself. Inside it would be nice to place twigs or small plants on which the praying mantis will climb like trees.

Temperature

Praying mantises are thermophilic insects, so optimum temperature for them it will be from +23 to +30 C. You can use special heaters for terrariums.

Humidity

Also, do not forget about humidity, which is also important for these insects. The optimal humidity for praying mantises is 40-60%, and to maintain it, you can put a small container of water inside the terrarium.

How to feed praying mantises at home

Living food. Perfect fit, grasshoppers, cockroaches, flies. Some species of praying mantis will not mind eating ants. And with all this, they need to be fed regularly, so keeping such “pets” can be somewhat troublesome. But praying mantises do not need to be watered, since they get the fluid they need from food.

• One of the styles of Chinese wushu martial arts is named after the mantis, according to legend, this style was invented by a Chinese peasant watching the mantis hunt.
• In the Soviet Union at one time they wanted to industrially use praying mantises as biological protection from agricultural pests. True, this idea had to be abandoned, since the praying mantises also ate beneficial insects, the same bees.
• Since ancient times, praying mantises were frequent heroes different myths and legends among African and Asian peoples, for example in China, they personified stubbornness and greed, and the ancient Greeks attributed to them the ability to predict the onset of spring.

Mantis - an insect from another planet, video

And in conclusion, we bring to your attention an interesting popular science film about praying mantises.

This is one of the most unusual and mysterious insects on our planet. It differs from many others in its habits, way of life, some behavioral features which may shock. First of all, this is behavior during the mating season. But this is not main feature praying mantis insect. In this article, we will cover this in detail. amazing creature, about its way of life, varieties, habitats. You will learn what the praying mantis eats, how the reproduction process takes place.

Spreading

The praying mantis is widespread in the South and Central Europe, South and North America, Asia, Australia, Africa. These insects do not live only in the northern regions, since they are extremely negative about the cold. But in the humid and hot climate of tropical Africa and South America they feel great.

They feel no less comfortable in tropical forests, in rocky deserts, in steppe regions. The praying mantis insect rarely moves, preferring its habitat to distant and unknown territories. The only reason that can make him go on a trip is the lack of food.

Types of praying mantis

Scientists believe that our planet is inhabited by about two thousand different species of these insects. Naturally, in this article we will not be able to present you with all the varieties, but we will tell you about the most, in our opinion, unusual representatives of this family.

common praying mantis

This is a rather large representative of the species: the female is up to seven centimeters long, the male is about six. In the countries of Europe, Africa and Asia, where the praying mantis of this species lives, it can be distinguished by an ovoid abdomen and black spots located on the front pairs of legs on the inside. They are usually painted green or brown. This species has well developed wings. In any case, the praying mantis flies quite easily from branch to branch.

Chinese praying mantis

From the name you can understand that China is the birthplace and place of distribution. This is large insect reaching a length of fifteen centimeters. The male Chinese mantis is much smaller. They are painted green or Brown color. The peculiarity of this species lies in the nocturnal lifestyle, although its relatives sleep at night.

In addition, young individuals of this species do not have wings: they grow only after several molts.

Creobroter meleagris

This is a resident of India, Cambodia, Vietnam and a number of Asian countries. In length, such insects reach five centimeters. Painted in cream or white. Them distinctive feature are light brown stripes running over the head and entire body. In addition, one small and one larger cream-colored spot can be seen on the wings.

Flower praying mantis (Indian)

Creobroter gemmatus is common in the forests of Vietnam, South India and other Asian countries. This view is no different large size: females grow up to only four centimeters, and males are slightly smaller. The body is elongated. For additional protection from enemies, special spikes of various heights are located on the hips of representatives of this species.

orchid mantis

It seems to us that this is the most spectacular praying mantis. It got its name for a reason - for the amazing resemblance to beautiful flowers, orchids. It is on them that the insect sets up an ambush in anticipation of the victim. Females of this species are twice as large as males: eight and four centimeters. Orchid mantises, even among their brethren, are distinguished by amazing courage: they attack even insects that are more than twice their size.

spiny flower mantis

Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii is an inhabitant of Africa. It closely resembles the Indian flower mantis. Its color is especially interesting: on the upper pair of wings you can see a pattern that resembles a spiral. On the abdomen of the representatives of this species there are spines, which gave the name to the species. Representatives of this species are painted in cream shades.

They fly well, and both males and females, due to their low weight, besides, the wings of such insects are well developed. Interestingly, these insects have spots on them that resemble an eye with two pupils, which, according to researchers, can scare away predators. Representatives of the species live in the flowers of plants, where they lie in wait for their prey.

The history of the name of insects

In 1758, the Swedish traveler gave the name to these insects and scientist Karl Linnaeus, who drew attention to the usual pose of a praying mantis, which is in ambush and waits for its prey. It is very reminiscent of the pose of a praying person. The scientist named insect mantis religiosa, which can be translated as "religious priest". In Russian, the name came modified - "praying mantis". True, it is not called so everywhere: for example, in Spain it is called Caballito del Diablo, which translates as "the devil's horse". This somewhat eerie name is probably due to the habits of praying mantises.

Description of praying mantises

The insect has an elongated body, which distinguishes it from many arthropods. This is perhaps the only creature, which can easily rotate its triangular head 360°. Thanks to this, the praying mantis can see his enemy approaching from behind. The insect has only one ear, but despite this, the praying mantis does not complain about hearing.

Its eyes have a complex faceted structure and are located on the sides of the head, but besides them, the praying mantis has three more simple eyes located above the base of the whiskers. Antennae can be pinnate, filiform or comb-like, depending on the species. certain kind. Almost all species of praying mantises have well-developed wings, but males fly more often, females have significantly more weight which makes flying difficult.

Praying mantis wings are represented by two pairs: anterior and posterior. The former are the elytra, which practically protect the hindwings, which are quite brightly colored and often with original designs. But the earthen praying mantis (Geomantis larvoides) does not have wings at all.

Circulation in praying mantises is quite primitive, which is explained by an unusual respiratory system. Oxygen to the praying mantis enters through a complex system of tracheae, which are connected to spiracles (stigmas) located on the abdomen in the back and middle parts of the body. The trachea contains air sacs that increase ventilation of the respiratory system.

Color

Like many insects, praying mantises in nature have the ability to camouflage to protect themselves from enemies. They change body color depending on the habitat: yellow, brown, green. Brown insects are inseparable from the bark of trees, while green ones live on green leaves.

What does a praying mantis eat?

It should be noted that the praying mantis is a predator that feeds on smaller insects and is not afraid to attack prey larger than itself. Flies and mosquitoes, wasps and bees, butterflies and bumblebees, beetles - this is all that the praying mantis eats. Larger species are able to attack even small birds, rodents and small amphibians: lizards, frogs.

Praying mantises attack their prey from an ambush, swiftly grab it with their front paws and do not let go until they have completely eaten it.

Mantis lifestyle

Having dealt with what the praying mantis eats, it is necessary to get acquainted with how the life of this insect is organized. praying mantis leads sedentary life, settling in one territory for a long time. If there is enough food around, the insect can spend its entire life on one plant or tree branch.

Despite the fact that praying mantises fly well and have two pairs of wings, they rarely use them, preferring to use their long limbs for movement. Males fly mainly at night, flying from branch to branch. In addition, they move from tier to tier, at the foot tall trees and on the tops of crowns, depending on where the praying mantises live.

We talked about the fact that these insects do not tolerate cold. Therefore, the question arises of how the praying mantis hibernates. cold period time it experiences in the form of diapausing eggs, the laying of which begins in the summer and ends late autumn. A clutch can contain up to 300 eggs. They are until spring in a capsule and easily tolerate frosts up to 18 ° C.

Mantis breeding

With the beginning of the mating season (as a rule, it falls on autumn), male praying mantis, using the organs of smell, begin to search for females that are ready to mate. Having found his chosen one, the male performs a “marriage dance” in front of her, which automatically turns him into a sexual partner. After this, mating begins, during which the female praying mantis bites off the male's head and then completely eats him.

Scientists believe that this behavior has biological causes. By eating her "groom", the female replenishes the supply of protein nutrients that are necessary for future offspring. In rare cases, the male manages to leave the bloodthirsty chosen one in time and avoids the sad fate.

After some time, the female lays eggs, enveloping their entire surface with a special sticky secret that she secretes from the glands. For eggs, this is a kind of protective capsule, which is called ootheca. The fertility of each female largely depends on the species. As a rule, one clutch consists of 300-400 eggs. In eggs treated in this way, insect larvae stay from three weeks to six months, after which they crawl out of them on their own. Then their development proceeds rapidly, and after four to eight molts the larva turns into an adult praying mantis.

At first glance, the praying mantis is an absolutely harmless insect. Fragile, thin, imperceptible in the grass and on the branches of trees. But not what it seems. First of all, it is almost clear to everyone that he was named so because of the prayerfully folded front legs. It can sit in its posture for hours, but don't be fooled, the mantis insect is a formidable predator. He attacks victims much larger than himself. Mantis fights with large spiders and even with snakes are known! Involuntarily, you will wonder if people made a mistake with the name?

Compared with relatives, this is a rather large representative of its class. Individual individuals can reach 76 millimeters in length and even more. Females are usually larger than males. If the size is the same, then it is rather difficult to determine the sex of individuals before adulthood.

They mimic beautifully. There are species that are very similar to flowers, others can easily get lost in the leaves, and all with one goal - to lie in wait for a suitable victim! They are completely harmless to humans. The only way, which a praying mantis insect can harm a person - scratch a finger with the jagged edges of the front paws, if you take it carelessly.

People who see them for the first time simply do not believe at first that this is a creature. earthly origin. His appearance and his whole alien appearance are very unusual. And, of course, it is very difficult to realize that this is a formidable predator. It is not always possible to clearly distinguish the appearance of such a small creature as a praying mantis. An insect (its photo can bewitch anyone) seems to be dancing a strange ritual dance.

Some people even keep them at home as they are not too difficult to care for. The insect will need to change housing several times. At first, a package of yogurt is fine, but later you will have to find a bigger "apartment" for him. Throughout life, the mantis insect sheds its skin, increasing in size.

We must not forget to feed him in time, and also in his dwelling there should always be branches on which he can hang, this is especially important during periods of molting. But he does not need to drink - it is only necessary to provide sufficient humidity.

If it is decided to breed individuals of different sexes, then, firstly, it is necessary to prepare a voluminous cage, and secondly, a sufficient amount of food. Otherwise, the larger female may eat the male after mating. It can happen immediately, as soon as the individuals are together or within a few days. After the end of the mating period, the male must be resettled again.

In due time, the female lays from 30 to 300 eggs, from which new individuals hatch in a few months. To prevent cannibalism among newborns, you need to put them in a large container with large quantity hidden corners and live food. After the second or third molt, they all need to be seated.

The praying mantis insect, unlike most of its counterparts, has a number of unique skills. In addition to excellent mimicry abilities, he can turn his head almost 180 degrees in different directions and even look over his shoulder. By the way, females, unlike males, cannot fly, although representatives of both sexes have wings. They are just too heavy to fly.

Why is the praying mantis so called?

The praying mantis family includes about 800 varieties. They have long and narrow bodies, six legs each, brown or green wings up to 5 cm long. But why is this insect called somewhat unusual - a praying mantis?

The praying mantis got its name because of the structure of the body, habits and, of course, the associative connections of people. Very often it can be seen in a motionless pose, with the front, largest legs raised up. He stands like that for hours, folding them, as if praying. The structure of the forelimbs of the praying mantis vaguely resembles human hands, bent at the elbows. Rubbing them and shaking their head at the same time, the praying mantis resembles a praying person. Hence the name "praying mantis", that is, he prays to God. Even the great Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus gave this insect a name associated with religion - Mantis religiosa, that is, "religious soothsayer (prophet)".

Despite such a benevolent name, praying mantises are considered one of the most cruel and bloodthirsty insects. The praying mantis folds its legs in this way, not for prayer, but for hunting. As soon as some insect appears nearby, the praying mantis throws its folded legs forward with lightning speed and grabs the victim. To keep her praying mantis help located on inside front legs are sharp notches.

Praying mantises jump on four hind legs and can fly from place to place. Moreover, they are the only insects that can turn their heads to the sides and back and even look over their shoulders. So it is difficult for the victim to dodge them, they will notice her anyway. Praying mantises catch prey and, holding it with their paws, slowly savor it.

This insect has long been of interest to scientists and the fear of all people who have heard of it. Praying mantises are popularly called "soothsayers" and "mule killers". The first name apparently comes from the suggestive “praying” posture, and the second comes from the belief that the saliva of the praying mantis can poison the mule.