The Mantis

Hello everyone! I'm back for another blog post!!! This time I'm going to open up with a question...have I ever told you the definition of insanity? Insanity means doing the same thing over...and over...and over...and expecting a different result each time. Well if you have ever experienced insanity you'll know how I feel when I see a green mantis on the edge of a green bush and run to fetch my camera and come back to the same spot and not seeing anything. I stared carefully for 20 minutes...nothing, when that didn't work I retraced my steps five times in an attempt to find the same branch, then lastly in desperation I decided to carefully move a few branches in the bush to see if I can find it, nothing. I introduce to you...the greatest master of disguise and camouflage: The Mantis!

There are very few insects in this world that can evade my eye for bugs like a mantis can. I'm not even joking Mantids are some of the most well camouflaged insects in the entire phylum. Right, lets get on with it! When you see a mantis in the garden, I can bet that if you know what it's called you will probably say "Oh look, a praying mantis!" Am I right? Funnily enough, the name "Praying Mantis" Is a common name given to a specific species of European mantis called Mantis religiosa (Hurr hurr hurr we see what you did there entomologists) but there are in actual fact far far more mantids out there. I'm going to show you two mantids that I found in my garden.

First let me tell you some interesting facts about the Mantis/Mantid (You can call it whichever you want) You may be wondering why I pointed out that little incorrect use of names earlier. Let me explain why Praying mantis has become a common name for all species of mantis. The word mantis comes from the Greek word mantikos meaning soothsayer or prophet. It's a suitable name because these insects do look considerably more mysterious than any others. All the species of mantis seem to have a common stance when sitting still, they usually clasp their forelegs together and it looks like they are praying. Now the European praying mantis was named after this strange trait, but seeing as all the mantids share this behaviour, people simply call them all "Praying mantids" despite many other species having different common names.

Another odd behaviour which I'm sure most people are aware of is the bizarre mating ritual of Mantids. It is actually shared by a few other species of arthropods, and it's called sexual cannibalism. Yup, female mantids devour their mates after mating. You might find it to be quite brutal but it is something that the male willingly does to provide ample nutrition for the female mantis to lay her eggs. The same goes for Black Widow spiders and even some species of jumping spiders! (I didn't actually know jumping spiders fell into this category up until now so even I'm learning stuff here )



Another thing that is very specific to mantids, they can turn their heads a full 180 degrees...not that may not seem very impressive but if you stop and think about your average insect, most, if not all of them have their heads fixated to their thorax with little to no flexibility. This is due to their thick exoskeletons and large joints, think of it as wearing a large metal suit, you'd be well protected but your flexibility would be very limited due to small hinges in your suit at the joints. Mantids are sort of an exception, think of them as the owls of the insect world, their necks have the greatest flexibility in their phylum.

Now, mantids are quite fearsome hunters. you can probably guess by now that they rely on surprise attacks due to their camouflage. These things are extremely fast when they go in for the kill, and they can get a very good hold of their prey with those sharp serrated forelegs.

Time to get onto the two species of mantids I have for you, the one is very similair to the plain green European Praying Mantis, it has no common name and its scientific name is Galinthias amoena it is distinguishable from the Praying Mantis in that it has a brilliant yellow and blue colouration on the insides of its forelegs as well as a distinct black dot at the base of each; where as the Praying mantis is simply plain green. Then the other one I have is a very very VERY colourful and absolutely GORGEOUS Eyed flower mantid or Pseudocreobotra wahlbergi. You'll notice a distinct black eye on its abdomen in the pictures, this is actually used to mimic the centre of a flower to draw prey in. Pretty damn clever if you ask me.

RIGHT!!! Time for pictures!



This is Galinthias amoena



Those eyes...they stare into your soul!!



Absolutely gorgeous!



No prizes for guessing which one this is!



The eyed flower mantid photographed here was actually one I watched for 3 months from the time it was still a nymph, I had the joy and honour of being able to watch this thing slowly mature! This is what it looked like when I first found it!

Aaaaaand I hope you enjoyed this blog post! If you have any questions or want me to do an entry on a specific bug then drop a request/question in the comments! Otherwise that's all from me!, Simon out!!