Of course praying mantis has four legs just like most other insects around the world. However, unlike other insects, the mantis’ legs are just a little too complex and strange. The unorthodox standing posture of a mantis is only one of its kind. The way they stand and grab their prey, mantises don’t really have any resemblance to any other species whatsoever.
The front legs or perhaps arms of a mantis are modified in a way that should facilitate her to capture its prey. There are claws attached to the end of its arms. These claws make sure that the prey doesn’t get away once the mantis captures it.
Nonetheless, if you take forelegs of a mantis as its arms then it probably has six legs instead of four. You’ll be surprised to know that mantises can stand on two legs so they can use their forelegs together with their arms. By so doing, mantises can employ its defense and offense skills rather effectively because only their two legs are engaged while the other four are free to serve.
Praying Mantis Legs – Video
References
Roy, Roger (1999). “Morphology and Taxonomy”. In Prete, Fredrick R.; Wells, Harrington; Wells, Patrick H.; Hurd, Lawrence E. The Praying Mantids. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 21–33. ISBN 978-0-8018-6174-1.
Absolutely! Praying mantis is an insect just like billions of others. However, the mantis’ uncanny disposition together with its seemingly reverent forelegs does leave people to wonder what type of insect it is. But it’s an insect. Mantises are essentially sticky insects probably the jumping ones that belong to the cockroach family. Let us see what makes a praying mantis an insect.
Is a Praying Mantis an Insect?
Worldwide, insects are characterized by three main body parts; thorax, abdomen, and head. Praying mantis qualifies for all these characteristics. The mantis’ abdomen is further divided into five to six segments which are probably found in most other insects.
Every insect ought to have one pair of antennae, joint legs, and compound eyes.
Every insect ought to have one pair of antennae, joint legs, and compound eyes. The male mantis has longer antennae as compared to that of a female. Mantids have two compound eyes too.
Generally insects may or may not have wings. Some species can fly while others are simply wingless yet they are insects. In mantids, both male and female possess wings but only former can take to the skies.
Most insects hatch from eggs so as the praying mantis. However, the mantis’ eggs are laid in a protective case known as ootheca. Furthermore, praying mantis like other insects, undergo numerous metamorphosis stages before turning into adulthood.
The closest relatives of praying mantis are cockroaches and grasshoppers. All these species often fall prey to mantis.
Erwin, Terry L. (1997).Biodiversity at its utmost: Tropical Forest Beetles (PDF). pp. 27–40. In: Reaka-Kudla, M. L.; Wilson, D. E.; Wilson, E. O. (eds.). Biodiversity II. Joseph Henry Press, Washington, D.C.
Unlike most other insects praying mantis has bulging eyes which are attached to their triangular heads. The mantis’ eyes are supported on its flexible neck. Praying mantises have five eyes out of which three are simple while the other two are compounds eyes. There are two tiny black spots inside the mantis’ eyes which moves as the mantis rotate. These black spots are known as pseudopupil. You might like to dig deeper into the functioning of the praying mantis eyes aren’t you?
Praying Mantis Eyes – How Many Eyes does a Praying Mantis have?
Mantises are ambush predators. They rely on sight to hunt live animals. Thanks to their remarkable compound eyes which contain 10,000 ommatidia, the mantis can find just about any prey moving into the grass. However, only the front portion of the mantis’ eye creates a high resolution image. This portion is called ‘fovea’.
Mantids can only see moving objects because of ommatidia. The ommotidia doesn’t appear to focus still images. The area within the eye (other than the ommitidia) does also play a key role in rolling out images. If a mantis recognizes a prey it then moves its head to get the image into the high-resolution-area of the eye which is fovea.
If you take a closer look at a mantis you’ll see that the two eyes of a mantis are widely placed perhaps for a good reason. The unusually wider eyes allow the mantis to have an extensive binocular field of vision one that creates a stereoscopic vision. It won’t be wrong to assume that mantises have binocular single vision—at least with respect to the direction of prey in space.
We humans can see objects in three-dimensional picture of the outside world but mantis seems to be more interested in focusing its prey only—leaving the rest of the scenery blurred.
We humans can see objects in three-dimensional picture of the outside world but mantis seems to be more interested in focusing its prey only—leaving the rest of the scenery blurred. This was believed to be true until recently when a team at the Neuroscience at Newcastle University (2018) proved it all too wrong. They studied the praying mantis’ eyes and concluded that mantises might just have the same kind of three-dimensional vision as we humans have.
Praying mantises are almost entirely diurnal because they use their excellent sight to hunt prey. However, there are a few species that become active at night possibly responding to the artificial street lights. They don’t launch an attack straightaway. Mantises are sit-and-wait hunters. If a prey moves somewhere around the mantis then the mantis inspects it using forvea. The inspection is over however if the prey is few inches away from the mantis. The predator immediately attacks the prey using its raptorial forelegs.
Most praying mantis are no more than 5 inches in length. The smaller species measure around 2 to 3 inches while the bigger specimens reach the overall length of 6 to 7 inches. Chinese mantis(Tenodera sinensis) are some of the largest mantids with the length of more than 6 inches. It is the biggest mantid in North America. Carolina mantis on the other hand can grow only 2 inches in length.
How Big is a Praying Mantis?
Praying mantis are slightly bigger than an adult grasshopper. However the bigger species such as Chinese mantis are pretty long with the length averaging at 11 cm (4.3 inches). However the species may be the female mantis is always bigger than the male. The female is almost two inches greater than its mating partner.
The only bird that is about the size of an adult praying mantis is hummingbird—the world’s smallest bird. That is why mantis occasionally attack and kill hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are 2 to 3 inches in length.
The biggest praying mantis ever recorded at 18 cm (7.08 inches) although scientists do believe that there may be 10-inch-long mantis out there in the wild.
Grasshoppers measure only 2 to 3 inches in length thus they often fall prey to mantids. Adult mantis especially the bigger individuals can easily get hold of a bug or an insect which is about the size of a grasshopper. Mantids have got raptorial forelegs that turn out to be quite effective in taking down larger prey.
While male and female praying mantis share certain characteristics they do have few dissimilarities too. The difference between male and female mantis isn’t so obvious when they are young; it becomes more pronounced with age. You’re more likely to recognize praying mantis male or female when they have reached adulthood. Let’s have a look at each of them and see if they are sexually dimorphic.
Difference Between Male and Female Praying Mantis – Male and Female Praying Mantis
Difference of Antennae
Set of Wings and Flying ability
Counting of Abdomen Segments
Body Size and Length
Cannibalism Behavior
1.) Difference of Antennae
The morphology of antennae isn’t so prominent when the mantis is at the growing stage i.e. nymphs. It’s hard to distinguish whether it’s a male or female. However, as they grow older, the male’s antennae do not only grow longer than the female’s it also becomes relatively thicker.
If you take a closer look at a nymph perhaps you’d find the same difference in that the female possesses extremely thin thread-like antennae while the male’s antennae is thicker. Depending on the species, sometimes females have smooth antennae while the male’s antennae are thin hair-like. Smaller mantids have 18 to 20 mm long antennae whereas larger specimens have antennae that measures around 32 to 26mm.
The male mounts on the bigger female from her back.
2.) Set of Wings and Flying Ability
Although both male and female have wings, it’s only the male that can fly. Males must fly up to their mating partner during breeding season.
Although both male and female have wings, it’s only the male that can fly. Males must fly up to their mating partner during breeding season. Since males fly, their wings are longer than the female’s something that can be observed only when they become adults. The Hierodulatranscaucasica female possesses pretty long wings one that can cover all her body.
However the species may be, the male’s wings are either always up to the size of its body or bigger. It is one basic rule of a flight that is the wings must be at least bigger than the body. The female’s wings are just not big enough to lift their heavy weight. The Rivetinabaetica female has 19 – 24 mm long wings while the male’s wings measures around 40 – 42 mm in length.
3.) Counting of Abdomen Segments
Prominent among the differences between male and female praying mantis is their abdomen segments. Male has eight abdominal segments while the female has six. Male has all segments almost equal in size but the female’s segments are not. One of the female’s segments especially the last one at the end of her abdomen is probably the biggest.
The female mantis is eating its mating partner.
4.) Body Size and Length
The rule of thumb in praying mantis is that the female is always bigger than the male. The female reaches the overall length of 10 inches while the male measures around 6 to 7 inches. The male has relatively slender body while the females are fatter. Different species have different lengths estimating 96-105 mm, 54-70 mm and 32-38 mm.
5.) Cannibalism Behavior
Apart from structural differences, the male and female praying mantis exhibit different behavioral adaptations. The cannibalism is observed in female praying mantis while the males are almost entirely innocuous. Females likely cannibalize their mating partner right after the copulation. Scientists believe that females are usually too hungry to mate with the male. More so, they will prefer smaller males so they could easily eat them after mating.
Difference Between Male and Female Praying Mantis – Video
References
Kristensen Lepidoptera NP. Moths and Butterflies: Morphology, Physiology, and Development. Arthropoda: Insecta, part 36. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and New York. 2003; xii-564.
Mohammad SK, Gadalla SM, El-Hamouly H, Ehrmann R, El-Den Nadder MG. Mantodea of Egypt. Zootaxa, 2011; 3044:1-27.
Vollrath F, Parker GA. Sexual Dimorphism and Distorted Sex-Ratios in Spiders. Nature. 1992; 360: 156–159.
Shine R. Ecological Causes for the Evolution of Sexual Dimorphism: A Review of the Evidence. The Quarterly Review of Biology. 1989; 64:419-461
