Common praying mantis (Mantis religiosa). Praying mantis - insect cannibal Female praying mantis where it lives

1. These fascinating insects are formidable predators. The angelic pose of the praying mantis is deceptive. If a bee or fly happens to land within reach, the praying mantis will grab the unfortunate insect with lightning speed. Sharp spikes line the predatory front legs of the praying mantis, allowing him to firmly grasp the prey. Some praying mantises catch and eat lizards, frogs, and even birds. Who said that in the food chain no errors occur? Praying mantises are carnivorous insects with a very impressive appetite.

2. The praying mantis has prominent front legs that are bent and fastened together at an angle, as if in a position of prayer. big group these insects are called prayer mantises. Mantis - a genus of praying mantis - praying mantids. The word mantis (from the Greek mantikos) means soothsayer or prophet. These insects really look mysterious, especially when their front legs are entwined, as if in prayer.

3. They have triangular heads worn on long neck, elongated chest. Mantids can turn their heads 180 degrees. No other insect can do this.

4. Yes, the praying mantis has five eyes! Do you think two eyes would be enough? But not for the praying mantis! These species of insects have a five-eyed configuration. In addition to the two large eyes, there are three small eyes located in the middle of the head. They use these eyes to detect light, to observe movement, and for deep vision.

I had no idea that praying mantises could be so colorful! Orchid mantis

5. Praying mantises have one ear located on their stomach.
Five eyes and one ear? Mantis are crazy! The auditory organ of the praying mantis is located in the middle of their abdomen, between the last set of legs. Their ear is not like ours - it only hears loud sounds high tone, perceives other sounds as vibrations.

6. Not all praying mantises have an ear, but only those that, as a rule, do not fly. Mantis species that lose their wings and move about by walking can be easy prey bats! At night the bats feed on any flying insects. In order not to be eaten, the praying mantis suddenly falls to the ground.

7. When praying mantises are born, they go through three stages of development: eggs, nymph and adult. In spring they appear as nymphs. Nymphs look a lot like miniature versions of their parents. The lifespan of a praying mantis is less than one year.

8. There is a praying mantis that looks like an orchid.
This is not just a pink and white insect, but a rather amazing flower-like praying mantis. A species of praying mantis that looks like an orchid is called Orchid mantis with Latin name Hymenopus coronatus. Seeing is believing

9. Praying mantis doesn't shy away from danger.
The insect is not that big. But in order to avoid the threat, they, while remaining in place, will try to look bigger: raise their wings, stand up, stretch as high as possible. May sway from left to right to appear more intimidating. It works? Actually, yes! Animals that are not particularly interested in eating them consider the praying mantis a slightly suspicious prey. Are they poisonous? In addition, some types of praying mantis are very bright colours.

Praying mantis and baby crocodile - meeting

10. A female praying mantis can have up to 1,000 babies.
After mating, she will produce eggs called ootheca. Each can contain 200 eggs. In total, she can produce 6 of them! Not every species of praying mantis is as productive, some species produce significantly fewer eggs. However, a female praying mantis doesn't need to mate more than once to produce many babies - one drunken mistake with long-term consequences.

11. Mantis will attack prey that is much larger than them. Most praying mantis species are not easily intimidated, they will go all the way. An amazing feat, considering that the praying mantis has no venom at all. He just needs to hold his prey and start eating it. It is much easier for spiders, as they quickly paralyze their prey with poison. There have been reports of mantis catching hummingbirds, mice, huge spiders, and other equally sized praying mantises. Asian mantises, Chinese mantises, African mantises and Budwit mantises are capable of this tactic. The thinner varieties rely more on camouflage and less on bold attack while hunting. Ghostly mantises take great risks when attacking.

12. Most praying mantises live in the tropics. The approximately 2,000 species of mantids described to date are nearly all found in the tropics. Most often, praying mantises are exotic species. Mantises (Mantodea) represent more than 2400 species in about 430 genera in 15 families. The most big family praying mantis - Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantis are distributed throughout the world in temperate and tropical habitats.

Photographer Igor Sivanouiks /Two beautiful praying mantises

13. Mantids are closely related to cockroaches and termites. It is believed that praying mantises, termites and cockroaches are descended from common ancestor. Entomologists group these insects in the superorder Dictyoptera due to their close evolutionary relationship.

14. Mantid eggs overwinter in cool conditions. The female praying mantis lays her eggs on a branch or stem in autumn and then protects them with a styro-like substance she secretes from her body. This forms a protective egg case in which her offspring will develop over the winter. Mantid eggs are easy to spot in winter when leaves fall from shrubs and trees. But if you bring a mantle outeca into your warm home, you'll soon find several hundred small praying mantises.

15. Female mantises sometimes eat their boyfriends. Yes, it's true, in 30% of cases, mantiza women actually kill their sexual partners. In some cases, they decapitate the poor guy even before he ends his relationship. As it turned out, the mantid becomes even more best lover when his brain, which controls inhibition, separates from the ventral ganglion, which controls the actual act of copulation. Most mantis sexual killings are believed to be not because the man is a bad fuck, but because the partner needs protein from the male body, which will later help the eggs develop.

16. Mantids are relatively young, in terms of evolutionary time. The earliest fossil mantids date from Cretaceous Period, between 146-66 million years.

17. Masters of disguise. Usually green or brown, they camouflage well on the plants they live among. Praying mantis lie in ambush and patiently hunt down their prey. Butterflies, crickets, grasshoppers and other insects are usually their unfortunate recipients.

Sources:
Borror and DeLonge "Introduction to the Study of Insects", 7th edition, Charles A. Thringhorn and Norman F. Johnson
Insects: them natural history and Diversity, Stephen A. Marshall
Encyclopedia of Insects, 2nd Edition, edited by Vincent H. Resch and Ring T. Carde
Evolution of Insects by David Grimaldi and Michael S. Engel
Experienced Praying Mantises: Hidden in Mere Sight, by Roberta Bret, Smithsonian Zoo Newsletter, September-October 1997
The Death of Order: A Comprehensive Molecular Phylogenetic Study Confirms Termites Are Eusocial Cockroaches, Dagan Inoard, George Beccaloni and Paul Eggleton. Biol. Lett. June 22, 2007, vol. 3 no. 3 331-335

The praying mantis has a very meek appearance. He sits for a long time in a humble pose, folding his paws on his chest. In fact, under the guise of a “righteous man” there is a real predator that can dine even with a relative

Animal care

Common praying mantis Mantis religiosa

Type- arthropods
Class- insects
Detachment- praying mantis (sometimes included in the order of cockroaches)
Family- real praying mantises
Genus- praying mantis

Large predatory insect: male body length 42-52 mm, female - 48-75 mm. The front pair of legs are agile, the two rear pairs are walking. The wings are well developed. The abdomen is massive, ovoid. An adult insect lives 55-60 days. Males usually die before females. Praying mantises, especially their larvae, are beneficial insects, as they destroy pests, especially on fruit trees and berry bushes. It lives in Europe (south of the 54th parallel), in the steppes and deserts of Asia to the Far East, in Africa - up to the southern tip. Introduced to Australia and North America, where he successfully took root. AT last years in Eastern Europe spreads to the north.

Due to its pious appearance, the insect received the name "praying mantis" in Russian, and the name in scientific Latin - Mantis religiosa (literally - "religious prophet"). His ancestors acquired the habit of taking a prayerful posture at the end of the Mesozoic, and it was dictated by no means by spiritual aspirations, but by the method of obtaining food that they had chosen for themselves. This is the starting stance for attacking prey. The French scientist Jean Henri Farbe, in his book The Morals of Insects, commented on the praying mantis: “There is nothing in its appearance that would inspire fear. But what a cruel disposition hides such a sanctimonious appearance. This is the tiger of the grassy jungle, the storm of the peaceful six-legged. Having twisted his tenacious paws in a feigned plea, he is waiting for the next victim.

For hours, or even days, the praying mantis sits at its combat post (usually on a branch of a bush or a stem of a herbaceous plant), maintaining a striking immobility. It is almost impossible to notice it - it merges so well with the background. The color of ordinary praying mantis is different - green, yellow or brown. This is not a sign of a subspecies, but a purely individual feature, like the color of a person's skin. But at the same time, praying mantises take into account their color, preferring to sit where it matches the background and is not striking: green on plants, yellow and brown on rags. If any careless animal approaches the hidden praying mantis, a sharp lunge follows - the folded forelimbs instantly straighten and the victim finds himself in a real trap formed by a paw and a lower leg with sharp spikes. The deadly "hands" fold again, bringing the stunned and securely fixed victim to the mouth. And powerful jaws come into play.

It is clear that with this method of hunting, the predator needs to determine distances and angles very accurately, because he has only one attempt. This ability is provided by the structure of the praying mantis head, on which the eyes stand out first of all - large, bulging, widely spaced (the farther they are from each other, the easier it is to estimate the distance to the target). Between them, like dragonflies, there are three simple eyes.

But if you just sit and wait until the beast comes running to the catcher, you can stay hungry. Therefore, the praying mantis hunts mainly for small prey. If a larger creature enters its field of vision, the predator begins to sneak up on it. He moves slowly and does not even hide much, although, if the situation allows, he tries to go from behind. If the prey took off or jumped - its happiness, the praying mantis freezes until the next edible object appears. But if he manages to get close to arm's length, a lightning-fast throw follows and spikes pierce the victim's body.

However, the exact throw of "hands" sometimes does not end, but begins the fight. The praying mantis, as a rule, attacks not only any insects (including those that are larger than himself or are well protected, such as bees), but also small vertebrates - reptiles, birds and even mice. Killing such prey or at least suppressing its resistance with one blow is unrealistic. Fights can last for many minutes, and an overly venturous hunter runs the risk of becoming prey himself. But the praying mantis is not embarrassed.

True, the praying mantis hunts such a large game only if he is very hungry. A well-fed insect does not pay attention to her, and if she herself goes to rapprochement, then the praying mantis takes a defensive pose: rises on four walking legs, opens its wings (usually folded on its back) and, swinging, throws trapping limbs towards a potential enemy, but not with an exciting, but with a repulsive movement, trying to expose spikes towards the enemy. The menacing posture and spiky "hands" are the only defense of the praying mantis, if he did not manage to go unnoticed. This is often enough to scare away a predator of comparable size or inexperienced (primarily fledglings of small birds - the main insect exterminators in the second half of summer), but if someone larger is interested in the praying mantis, it is over. Despite the well-developed legs and wings, the praying mantis runs rather slowly, and flies badly at all. A heavy, slow-flying, non-maneuverable insect, visible from afar, is an ideal prey for birds. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, they do not fly during daylight hours, and females generally prefer not to fly once again.

Praying mantises are also not very prone to walking. But towards the end of summer, males change their habits: they begin to wander around. Colliding with each other, they enter into a fight, and the loser in this knightly duel has every chance not only to die, but also become food for the winner.

But, of course, in these wanderings, mantis males are not looking for tournament glory, but for the love of beautiful ladies. However, it is not easy to have a romantic relationship with them: the female, being on average much larger and stronger than the male, can easily devour a potential groom, especially if she is not yet ready to mate or has not eaten her fill for a long time. Therefore, the male, having spotted a possible spouse, begins to sneak up on her much more carefully than on the most sensitive and dangerous prey. His movement is imperceptible to the eye, like a clockwise movement, as if he does not move at all, but gradually turns closer to the female, striving to go behind. If the female turns in his direction, he freezes in place for a long time, only swaying slightly (perhaps these movements are a signal that switches the behavior of the female from the "hunting" program to the "love"). A kind of courtship can last 5-6 hours - on a pilgrimage date, it is better for a gentleman to be late for an hour than to hurry up for a minute. But even successful mating does not guarantee the safety of the male: the six-legged Cleopatra can kill her lover immediately after the act is completed. However, in about half of the cases, the males - either more suave or simply more fortunate than their counterparts - get away alive and may, after a while, again play the deadly game with another female. It makes no sense for them to take care of themselves: in a few days, a self-destruction program will begin to work in their bodies.

The fertilized female soon chooses a suitable stalk or stone, sits comfortably and starts laying eggs. Together with the eggs, a sticky secret is secreted from her abdomen, which immediately hardens in the air. As a result, a flattened drop remains at the masonry site, similar to a drip of construction foam, 2-2.5 cm in size - an ootheca. Inside it is 100-300 eggs.

After laying, the female seems to lose interest in life, becomes lethargic. Her covers fade, dark spots appear on them. Even before the end of October, all adult praying mantises - both females and surviving males - die. The mechanism of this programmed death has not been fully elucidated, but it is known that the synthesis of a number of amino acids stops in the insect organism. In captivity, by adding these amino acids to the drinker, as well as a number of vitamins, you can extend the life of an insect by two months, that is, twice. One way or another, by winter, only ootheca remain from the praying mantises, in which ... nothing happens. To start the development of the embryo, the egg must endure prolonged cooling, stay at a temperature of +3 ° C to -18 ° C for at least a month (mantis eggs from African populations of the same species do not need to be cooled).

Apparently, the northern border of the "mantis country" is determined not by winter, but by summer temperatures. Today after global change climate mantises are moving north. In recent years, the praying mantis has become common in the Bryansk region (where the photographs for this article were taken). And a few years ago, isolated finds of praying mantises were reported from the Ryazan and Moscow regions. Actually, the signal for the beginning of development is not cold, but the return of heat. Having warmed up in the spring sun, the embryos develop rapidly, and at the end of April - May, larvae crawl out of the ootheca one after another. Their entire body is covered with spines directed backwards, and long threads stretch behind each. Inside the tight “shell”, the larva cannot use its legs and simply wriggles with its whole body, and the spines turn this movement into a progressive, forward one. When the larva crawls away from the outlet, the threads, like a parachute lanyard, literally pull off the infant skin from it. Now the larva looks like a revived scheme of the praying mantis structure: the limbs and body parts are located in the same way, but there are no wings yet.

The larva is similar to an adult insect not only in structure, but also in its way of life: it hunts in the same way, grabbing prey with trapping legs, but at the same time it is much more mobile than adults. The size of the favorite game grows with the hunter: from thrips - tiny inhabitants of flowers - to aphids, fruit flies, and then flies.

Weeks follow weeks, with each molt the larva becomes larger, its abdomen becomes more massive. After the fifth molt, she acquires wings and reproductive organs. And before us appears an adult praying mantis.

Home praying mantis is very unusual pet for keeping at home. This insect is graceful, quick-witted and very interesting to watch. Besides this, this dangerous predator for insects living in your home, such as cockroaches and crickets, because praying mantises belong to the class of carnivorous insects.

Most praying mantises live on continents with tropical climate, however, sometimes you can meet some representatives in the northern parts of the earth. Grasshoppers and stick insects are related to them. All these species of insects, including praying mantises, are subject to several stages of metamorphosis, which turn them into an adult. The home praying mantis is a rare pet even in the homes of extravagant breeders, but today we will talk about him. So, let's highlight a few main points that should be considered when keeping a praying mantis at home.

A little about the insect

An adult praying mantis can have quite large sizes — his length may be ten and more centimeters.

The color of this insect can be yellow, green, light brown or other, in dependencies from environment habitat. Having ability to mimicry from nature, mantis maybe merge with branches, plants and stones having a similar Colour, and therefore it will be very difficult to notice it.

It has a triangular, highly movable head, with which it can rotate 180 degrees. The front paws with sharp spikes are well developed, with which he captures his prey and holds it while eating. The praying mantis also has wings, but it flies very poorly, so most often it sits motionless in one place, waiting for prey.

The lifespan of a domestic praying mantis is about two months, but some species, according to some sources, can live up to a year.

Temperature regime

Because insects are tropical inhabitant, respectively, and you need to keep the praying mantis at home in temperature regime from 20 to 25 ° C, while also observing the required humidity regime. Maintaining humidity in the praying mantis cage is not difficult, just spray water over the cage once a day, this will be enough.

How does a homemade praying mantis eat

How to feed a praying mantis at home? Such pets prefer aphids, flies, as well as other insects that are suitable in size. Young individuals grow very quickly, provided that the owner feeds them well.

Many representatives of mantises can be aggressive towards their relatives, so cannibalism is quite possible, especially if there is a significant difference in size between individuals. Domestic praying mantises may also consume insects of the same size, or perhaps even larger than themselves.
Praying mantises in most cases do not drink water, however, you should place a container of water in the place where they are kept. It will also serve as a source of moisture to maintain the desired microclimate. In the absence of a container, a necessary condition will be to spray water to ensure humidity.

Living conditions

In the stages of its development, the praying mantis tends to shed its skin, thus increasing in size. For individuals that have just been born, a small container will be an excellent housing, but for teenagers, you can use a jar or something similar in size. The temporary dwelling of young praying mantises should be covered with a film, after making a hole in it for feeding. A prerequisite is the presence of branches in the container, which should be exactly three times larger than the young.

Reproduction features

Young praying mantis home maintenance almost no gender difference, but adults can be easily recognized due to the fact that males have eight lobes on the abdomen, but females have only six. Before insects start mating, they need to be fed. large quantity feed, while separating from each other. In order for the male not to become food for the female, a container is needed large sizes where the breeding process will take place. The whole action may take several minutes or days, but the presence of food is required. After mating is over, the male is separated from the female.

The female can produce eggs in quantities from 30 to 300 pieces. The larvae will be born in the interval from 3 to 6 months, while hatching, they may not all at once.

The main nuance for keeping praying mantises at home is the presence of a large container for their habitat, in which it must be present in without fail live food, as well as the opportunity to hide its inhabitants. By observing these requirements, cannibalism will be excluded, however, after the insects shed several times, they must be seated.

If you want to get yourself an unusual insect, then house praying mantis fit perfectly. This insect is undemanding in content and does not take up much space. Such a pet can be caught in wild nature or purchase at a pet store.

And if you haven't chosen yet pet to match yourself, pay attention to the terrible - the hero of Hollywood horror films or his eternal enemy -.

praying mantis ( Mantodea) – special detachment insects. In a number of features (the structure of the abdomen, wings, the development of special ootheca capsules for eggs), they are similar to cockroaches - according to these features, they were sometimes even combined into one detachment. But in terms of lifestyle and behavior, praying mantises are not at all similar to cockroaches - they are active predators living alone.

The praying mantis is known for its "prayer posture" with its front legs folded "on the chest". These legs are grasping, with sharp spikes, and open like a penknife. By quickly throwing them forward, the praying mantis deftly captures the prey.

In total, about 2 thousand species of praying mantises are known. Large tropical species are able to attack small lizards, birds, frogs. But even an ordinary praying mantis 6 cm in size can kill and eat a 10 cm long lizard in 3 hours and digest it in 6 days. At this time, he is getting fat twice. But the usual food of praying mantises is insects.

Praying mantises have a camouflage color - the color of trees, grass, flowers, sticks, stones, leaves, among which they live. An immobile praying mantis natural environment almost impossible to notice. Only movement can give it away. The praying mantis usually moves very slowly, but in case of obvious danger it is able to crawl away quite quickly - and freeze again in a new place. With a clear attack, this insect behaves differently - it opens its wings, increasing its size, and begins to sway, trying to scare enemies. Row tropical species at the same time, they make sounds - the rustling of wings, the clicking of legs. Some praying mantises have contrasting spots on their wings, which are hidden when at rest. But when the wings spread, these spots, like someone's large eyes, suddenly appear in front of the enemy, frightening him. In addition, the attacked praying mantis throws forward its grasping legs, striving to stab the enemy with its spikes.

Mantis Pseudocreoborta wahlbergi in a menacing stance

Praying mantises are predominantly residents of the tropics or subtropics. Most widely distributed common praying mantis (Mantis religiosa): from South Africa to Central Asia, Caucasus, south middle lane Russia - approximately to the line of Kursk, Bryansk, Orel, Belgorod. But along the northern borders of its distribution, the praying mantis is rare. For example, near Kyiv, we observed it 1-4 times a year, and near Kharkov - even less often, episodically. But already on the Black Sea coast, in the Crimea, in the Caucasus, this is a fairly common insect. There is an ordinary praying mantis in the south of Siberia, in Kazakhstan and in the Far East of Russia. With ships, this species also came to Australia and the USA, and is now found there even in big cities, for example in New York.

Were unexpected meetings with a praying mantis and with us: either he flew into the window of the house, then he sat on the sidewalk of a city street, at a trolley bus stop. But still normal environment The habitat of this insect in the city is close to natural: dense thickets of grass, bushes, trees in parks, botanical gardens.

An ordinary praying mantis has three color forms: green, yellow and brown - the color of the environment where it lives. We met mainly green praying mantises - up to 80% of the meetings. It is possible that the color of this insect also varies in distribution areas, depending on which area, which colors of the vegetation cover prevail.

You can meet an ordinary praying mantis both in the grass and on the branches of bushes and trees. These insects have well developed wings, but we observed only males flying. They fly especially actively at night, although they can fly from tree to tree during the day. But usually the praying mantis does not seek to move - if there is food, the tree praying mantis can live all his life on one tree or bush, even on one large branch.

The praying mantis has a movable triangular head with developed eyes. He carefully looks around, he is attracted by any slightest movement nearby. Noticing a moving object of a small size, a hungry praying mantis begins to slowly move towards it and, approaching, grabs it with agile legs and eats it. The praying mantis can catch small insects, motionlessly waiting for them in ambush, using its protective coloration. And here big booty, equal to or even larger than it in size, for example, an adult locust, the praying mantis actively pursues, crawls towards it openly, tries to jump onto its back and grabs - first of all, by the head. Then immediately begins to eat, also from the head.

Stationary objects do not evoke any reaction in the mantis, they only catch moving prey (similar behavior can be seen in many spiders). But the mantis necessarily reacts to a moving object. In experiments, these insects even tried to catch the image of a colored square moving on a white screen.

If a large object that suddenly appears nearby is too large, the praying mantis can show a defensive reaction - then it spreads its wings and throws its legs forward with a special repulsive movement, trying to put forward their sharp ends and spikes. A well-fed, weakened or old praying mantis also repels insects approaching him, which under other conditions would become his prey.

The praying mantis is gluttonous. Larvae eat 5–6 aphids, fruit flies, house flies per day; an adult insect can eat 7–8 cockroaches about a centimeter long in a row, spending about half an hour for each. Having caught a cockroach, the praying mantis begins to gnaw its soft parts, especially the abdomen, at the end - the harder ones, in particular the head. Only wings remain from the cockroach, sometimes pieces of legs, and the praying mantis eats soft insects almost without a trace.

The breeding season of praying mantises in temperate climate extended from August to September. At this time, males begin to migrate in search of females. At the end of the abdomen of praying mantises there are special outgrowths - cerci, they are the organs of smell. In males, the cerci are better developed and, perhaps, help in finding partners.

It is widely believed that the larger and voracious female praying mantis will definitely eat the male when they meet. However, in reality this is not always the case. Noticing the female, the male praying mantis cautiously and very slowly, with frequent long stops, freezes, begins to approach her, swaying slightly. The female at this time can catch prey, eat, clean herself. If she notices the movement of the male and turns her head towards him, he immediately freezes for a long time. This approach and contact can last 5–6 hours. As a rule, the male tries to approach the female from behind, from the back - this is the most successful and safe way for him. But if he approaches from the side, then the female often notices him and attacks. Hungry females are the most aggressive, a well-fed insect reacts sluggishly to moving objects, and this also helps the male to protect himself from attack. Settling down at the back of the female and quickly leaving after the meeting, the male praying mantis often remains alive. So cannibalism among these creatures is not such an obligatory phenomenon, as it seemed before.

When laying eggs, the fertilized female simultaneously secretes a special sticky liquid. Enveloping the eggs and hardening, this liquid forms a capsule - an ootheca, in the middle of which there are 100-300 eggs. Oootheca sticks to plants or stones, it is quite hard, retains inside the moisture necessary for the development of eggs and protects them from negative external influences. Common praying mantis eggs in ootheca can withstand short-term frosts down to -18 °C.

The eggs of praying mantises from the south of central Europe, apparently, need temporary cooling for development - winter diapause. When breeding in captivity, it is enough to keep the praying mantis eggs in the refrigerator for a month at a temperature of 0 ... +3 ° C. But in the tropics, the development of mantis eggs occurs without diapause.

The newborn praying mantis larva has long filaments at the end of the abdomen and many spines pointing backwards on the body. These spines help her crawl out of the ootheca. But the tail threads of the larva are clamped by the edges of the egg capsule - then the larva immediately sheds, leaves the old skin and becomes like an adult praying mantis, only small and wingless. It has a protective coloration, but is very mobile compared to adult insects.

At first, the larvae feed on small thrips, aphids, then, as they grow, they switch to fruit flies and larger flies. When kept in captivity, in a limited space, praying mantis larvae actively attack each other. But in nature, they manage to settle before it comes to mutual destruction.

In Europe and Central Asia, praying mantis larvae usually appear in April-May. After about two and a half months, after molting 5 times, they turn into adult insects. After another 10–14 days, males begin to look for females.

An adult insect lives 55–60 days. Males usually die before females - after the breeding season, they become lethargic and stop hunting. The male praying mantis, caught in nature by an adult, died in our captivity by the end of September, and the female in October. Even when creating optimal conditions, with an abundance of food, heat and light, praying mantises die during October, depending on the time of their birth in the spring. That is, the life span of 2 months given to an adult insect is very tough. The old praying mantis has dark brown spots on its body, its green bright coloring fades. A chemical analysis of the body of an insect during this period reveals the disappearance of vital amino acids in the body, in particular valine, leucine, lysine, tryptophan, methionine, threonine, etc. Adding these amino acids, as well as vitamins A, D, E, to the food and water for the praying mantis and a complex of vitamins of group B prolongs its life up to late December, i.e. 2-3 months compared to the usual period.

In addition to the usual, in the Crimea, the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, the Southern Volga region, in the south of Siberia, in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, it is found spotted mantis (Iris polysticica). In the south of the steppe belt, you can meet praying mantises from the genus Bolivaria, and in Central Asia - tree praying mantises Hierodula.

empuses (Empusa) are found in the south of Europe, in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, in Central Asia and in the south of Kazakhstan. These praying mantises have a very characteristic appearance: a triangular head with a pointed end and a special outgrowth sticking out in front - in this way they resemble little devils. These pretty large insects(females reach 6.5 cm, males are slightly smaller) are generally similar to the common praying mantis, but slenderer, with a thinner abdomen. Empuse males have developed feathery antennae, which indicates a good perception of odors. Species of this genus are very active at night. Their larvae appear in the summer and are noticeably larger than the larvae of other praying mantises, so they immediately begin to feed on small flies (rather than thrips and aphids), and quickly switch to feeding on grasshoppers and butterflies. Unlike a number of other praying mantises, in empusas, not eggs in the ooteca hibernate, but already grown larvae and even adults.

In addition to praying mantises living on plants, desert species are also found in Central Asia. They are small in size, keep on sand, stones and move quickly in search of prey. Their movements are similar to ants. These are, for example, rivetins ( Rivetina). Praying mantises-crumbs from the genus Armen ( Armena) are about 1.5 cm in size and are found not only in deserts, but also in the mountains, at an altitude of up to 2.7 km, where they hide under stones. Desert and mountain views praying mantises also have a corresponding gray inconspicuous color.

To a certain extent, praying mantises, especially their larvae, are useful insects, because. destroy pests, especially on fruit trees, berry bushes. So, the Central Asian tree praying mantis during its development eats about 25 g of different insects. However, some beneficial species e.g. bees, riders. Attempts to use praying mantises for agricultural pest control, their mass breeding and resettlement for these purposes have not yet yielded results. But these insects still deserve careful treatment in their habitats.

In recent years, praying mantises have become rare in a number of places, in particular in the Crimea - empuses, spotted-winged mantises, and bolivarians. A possible reason for this is the destruction of the habitats of these insects, dense steppe vegetation, and the plowing of steppe virgin lands. But while maintaining small areas of dense herbs - micro-reserves for insects and limiting the use of pesticides, mantises can also be preserved. It is especially desirable to do this on the northern outskirts of their range, in Russia, where praying mantises are already quite rare.

Literature

Gornostaev G.N. Insects of the USSR. – M.: Thought, 1970.

Life of animals. T. 3. Invertebrates. - M .: Education, 1969.

Plavilshchikov N.N. Insect identifier. - M .: Education, 1957.

Chervona Book of Ukraine (Tvarinny retinue) / Ed. MM. Shcherbak. - Kyiv: Ukrainian Encyclopedia, 1994.

The praying mantis is found all over the world, there are more than 2000 species of these insects.

Most people are afraid of them because they move strangely, they look intimidating. But a praying mantis bite is not terrible for a person. Their mouths are too small to bite a human, but with ease, a female praying mantis can eat her mate's head.

The reason there are rumors is that they can "bite" because of the hair on their legs. When they go, they lightly rub against the skin, a person feels it as tiny bites.

These are predatory insects that use powerful front legs to catch prey in order to grab and hold small animals.

While the smaller species, which mainly feed on insects and other invertebrates, are very large species will occasionally prey on small vertebrates such as frogs, lizards.

origin of name

The name "praying mantis" comes from the posture of holding their front legs as if they were praying. Most species are colored green or Brown color, so they can merge with leaves and foliage, which allows them to patiently track down insects: flies and grasshoppers.

When the praying mantis is threatened, he stands high, stretches his front paws and wings like a fan, and opens his mouth wide. This defensive stance is used to appear larger in order to intimidate the opponent.

However, some species have bright colors, patterns on the hind wings and the inner surfaces of the forelegs for the same purpose. If the pursuit from the intruder persists, the mantis may strike with its front legs, attempt to pinch or bite.

The strikes are quick as the blink of an eye, after which he will slowly devour the unfortunate victim slowly with his ultra sharp jaws.

They don't bite people on purpose, they don't damage home environments, they don't spread disease. However, touching their spiny forelimbs can feel like a bite.

Mantises are beneficial insects. They eat different kinds other insects that are harmful to humans.

Is a praying mantis bite dangerous?

Although it almost never happens, the mantis can grab your finger and bite you.