What does a female praying mantis mean? The most interesting information about the insect Mantis

Praying mantises are large insects with a narrow, elongated body. Born predators and masters of camouflage, they ambush their prey, blending completely into the foliage and branches. By exterminating phytophagous insects, they bring benefits agriculture. Common praying mantis typical representative order of praying mantises, living in Europe. Characteristic insects - front legs equipped with tools for grasping and holding prey. There are sharp spikes on the thighs and lower legs, which, like a trap, catch an unwary victim. Many people know about the mating cannibalism of praying mantises. This amazing feature became the inspiration for writing scary stories and filming.

Description of the species

The common praying mantis (Mantisreligiosa) belongs to the order Praying Mantis, which includes 2,800 species. The insect's body is narrow and elongated. Males grow up to 43-52 mm, females are much larger - 50-75 mm. Anatomical feature praying mantises is the structure of the forelimbs. Grasping legs with spiny elongated femurs and tibiae are designed for holding prey. The thigh and lower leg in a ligament function on the principle of scissors. WITH inside On the coxae of the forelimbs there is a dark spot with a white mark in the middle.

Common praying mantis

Interesting fact. Despite the fact that females are larger than males, males have longer antennae and larger eyes.

The head is triangular, mobile, the insect is able to look back. On the sides there are large, convex compound eyes. In European mantises they have a black pupil. On the forehead there are long filamentous antennae and three simple ocelli. The mouthparts of the gnawing type are directed downward. The common mantis has two pairs of well-developed wings. Light males and young females are capable of flying over considerable distances.

The forewings are narrow and leathery, they replace the elytra. The hind wings are wide, and when at rest they are folded on the back like a fan. The pronotum expands in the upper part, but never covers the head. The abdomen is elongated, soft, consists of 10 segments. On the last segment there are appendages - cerci. There are 10 pairs of spiracles on the sides of the body.

The color type of the common mantis is protective. Body color can be green (in 80% of cases), yellow, light or dark brown. Camouflage coloring allows you to blend in with the environment. When the insect is motionless, it completely mimics foliage or a twig. Camouflage serves two functions: it allows you to hunt from ambush and hide from enemies.

Information. When attacked by an enemy, the mantis opens its wings to increase in size. It sways from side to side and raises its front legs and the edge of its abdomen threateningly. All actions are aimed at scaring away the aggressor. If the enemy is too large, the mantis flies away.

History of the name

The scientific name of the species in Latin is Mantisreligiosa. The word mantis is translated “priest”, “prophet”, religiosa - “religious”. Carl Linnaeus did not choose the name by chance; when waiting for prey, the common mantis or the religious mantis folds its shins into the groove of its thighs. His pose resembles a man frozen in prayer.

Distribution area

The Mantisreligiosa species is thermophilic and cannot be found beyond the 50th parallel. The northern border of distribution in Europe runs through southern Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and France. The common praying mantis is often found in European southern regions, on the islands Mediterranean Sea, in Sudan, in the Middle East. Predatory insects were brought to remote parts of the world - New Guinea, the USA, and the south of Canada was partially inhabited. Climate warming is promoting the expansion of the habitat to the north. Adult Mantisreligiosa is recorded in Belarus and Latvia, where it did not live before. In Russia, insects live in large numbers on the Black Sea coast, in the Crimea and the Caucasus.

Lifestyle

The praying mantis lives and hunts like a typical ambush hunter. The predator freezes until the prey is within reach. It grabs prey with its front legs and starts eating from the head. Males are careful in choosing hunting objects; they attack flies, locusts and other small insects. Large females often attack victims almost equal in size to them. Aggressive individuals attack lizards, birds, and frogs. They jump on the reptile's back and bite its head. The fight continues for several minutes, in the process the hunter can become the victim. If the outcome is successful, the prey is eaten within 2-3 hours. The female remains well fed for up to 4-5 days.

You can meet Mantisreligiosa in the forest, steppe herbs, and meadows. Insects do not even avoid large cities, where they have adapted to live in grass, parks and gardens. Favorite places The habitat of the common mantis is tall trees and shrubs. Insects prefer sedentary image life. They do not leave their usual territory, they move between tiers. For movement, four limbs are used, less often wings.

Given enough food, they spend their entire lives on one plant. Insects have excellent vision, they detect the slightest movement in environment. Camouflage coloring allows you to get closer to your prey unnoticed. Hunting takes place in daytime. All soft tissues of the prey are eaten, leaving chitinous legs and wings. How long a common mantis lives depends on the amount of food and gender. The age of females is longer; on average, representatives of the species are natural conditions live 2-3 months. In captivity, the life expectancy of insects increases several times and is 12-13 months.

Like any insect, the praying mantis has many natural enemies. It is hunted by birds, snakes, small mammals, the bats. The arthropod runs slowly and takes off heavily. Its terrifying dance with its wings spread like a fan scares off only inexperienced young birds. For other large hunters, the mantis is easy prey.

Meaning in nature

The biological significance of the common mantis is associated with its lifestyle. He is a predator that destroys harmful insects. Adults and larvae eat phytophages on trees and shrubs. Attempts have been made more than once to organize the protection of agricultural lands with the help of praying mantises. Large-scale plans to use predators in the role biological weapons against pests have not been successful, but many farmers buy Mantisreligiosa ootheca. They are placed in gardens to safely kill aphids and thrips.

Sexual dimorphism of insects is clearly expressed in the sizes of male and female individuals.

The sexual behavior of insects is closely studied by scientists. Relations between partners are divided into two stages:

• pre-court;
• pairing.

IN temperate climate The breeding season is August-September. At the end of the abdomen of males there are sensitive olfactory organs - cerci. With their help, insects capture the pheromones of females. The courtship process involves carefully approaching the object of passion. The male slowly and carefully moves towards the female, trying to walk around her from behind. When she turns her head, she freezes in place, taking advantage of the fact that mantises do not react to motionless figures. Courtship takes several hours, but allows you to remain alive until mating.

Having reached a potential partner, the male jumps on her back. It supports itself with its legs, placing them in special grooves on the sides of the female’s mesothorax. In this safe position, he begins copulation. The process can last 4-5 hours. In 50% of cases the male manages to escape. Having run away from his partner to a safe distance, he freezes for several minutes. This is necessary for relaxation.

Praying mantises are insects with incomplete metamorphosis. The development of an individual occurs in 3 stages: egg, larva, imago. 10-11 days after fertilization, the female common mantis lays eggs. The masonry is 100-300 pieces. A sticky secretion is released along with the eggs. After the liquid hardens, an ootheca is formed - a protective capsule in which the masonry is not exposed to external influences. Ootheca yellow or Brown, it is attached to branches or stones. The eggs remain overwintering.

Larvae

The offspring of praying mantises appear in the spring. The larvae are born with many spines on the body and two filaments on the abdomen. The spines help the young to get out of the capsule. The larvae hang on the tail threads, this is how the first molt occurs. They will have to go through 4 more molts before they mature. Wingless larvae are similar in appearance to adults. They feed on fruit flies, aphids, and thrips.

Cannibalism during mating

During the breeding season, under the influence of sex hormones, the aggressiveness of females increases. The partner is in danger if the female has been fasting for 2-3 days. She may attack the male before copulation. This will provide the necessary nutrients, plus the size of the prey is larger than common insects. The partner runs the risk of dying during mating; loss of the head does not affect copulation. Eating the male after accepting the spermatophore has the same reasons. The female mantis provides nutrition for future offspring, increasing the chances of production large quantity eggs

Interesting fact. Males choose large, well-fed females to mate with, this reduces the risk of being eaten during fertilization.

House praying mantis – exotic pet, which can live at home for about a year. Insects are smart, sociable, and quite large in size. To house your pet you will need a terrarium. They come in two types: plastic and glass. The second option is preferable. Air access is provided by a mesh lid. The length of the dwelling should be 3 times the size of the praying mantis’ body.

The heat-loving insect requires a temperature of 22-26°C. It can be maintained with a special heater or a lamp installed near the container. Recommended humidity 40-60%. Maintained by daily spraying of the substrate. It is not necessary to install a drinking bowl; moisture on the walls of the terrarium is enough. The pet is picked up without fear; the more often the contact occurs, the sooner it gets used to the person.

Sand or coconut sawdust is poured onto the bottom as a substrate. Twigs and driftwood are placed inside for the insect to crawl on. An important nuance when keeping several common mantises is placing them in different containers. This will prevent cannibalism, which is typical for the species. Food for the predator includes grasshoppers, flies, locusts, crickets, and cockroaches. Pets are fed every 2-3 days. Depending on the size, 1-3 food insects are given at a time. By launching the prey inside the container, you can watch the hunt.

Security measures

Despite the widespread distribution of insects in some regions of Russia, the common mantis is listed in the Red Book. Go to category rare species it is listed in the Chelyabinsk, Voronezh, Kurgan, Belgorod and Lipetsk regions. The number of insects has decreased as a result of plowing of land, grass burning, continuous hayfields, and the use of pesticides in cultivating fields. In the habitats of mantises it is limited economic activity. To protect the species, plowing land, grazing livestock, using pesticides, killing or capturing insects is prohibited. In Germany, the common mantis is included in the Red List as a declining species. It cannot be caught in the wild and kept at home as a pet.

There has long been an opinion that the female praying mantis eats her unlucky opponent for a reason. How could it be otherwise? The female praying mantis is much larger and more aggressive than the male, and not without obvious pleasure, this femme fatale bites off the male’s head at the moment of mating.

Is this true? Let's figure it out.

First, let's look at what a praying mantis is. This thin, awkward creature with a long body and legs can sit for hours without moving, until some careless midge comes into its field of vision.

The praying mantis is a predatory insect about 5 cm in size. It has well-developed both pairs of wings, although it rarely uses them. In case of danger, the praying mantis spreads bright wings like eyes, like a butterfly, and takes a threatening pose. In appearance they accurately imitate long green leaves, although in nature there are praying mantises not only green, but also yellow, brown and brown tones. There are more than 2,000 species of praying mantises, which mainly live in the tropics and subtropics.

It is generally accepted that the praying mantis hides in the grass, but it can be found anywhere. There are mantises that live on trees and look no different from thin tree branches; there are insects that sit on flowers and look like strange creatures. The latter include the Indian flower mantis, which looks more like a butterfly with green and pink-brown wings, and the orchid mantis, which closely imitates an orchid flower.

If common mantis destroys harmful insects, flies, beetles and mosquitoes, then flower mantises are true pests. They hunt for bees, bumblebees and other small insects that come to feast on nectar.

Despite the fact that the mantis is thin and also slow by nature, its waiting tactics bear wonderful fruits. He sits for hours, frozen in a motionless position, raising his front legs upward, the shins of which are inserted into the hips and act like razor blades. He can sit like this for a very long time, until some careless midge or beetle falls into his paws. As soon as a suitable insect is nearby, it slowly creeps up to it and, throwing out its front legs, grabs the prey. When the insect is eaten, it again takes the same position and waits for a new victim.

It is because of this prayerful pose that the praying mantis gets its name. Translated from Greek it means “prophet”, from Latin it means “religious”. It was this pose that prompted Carl Linnaeus Swedish doctor- the founder of a unified system of classification of flora and fauna, give it this name.

However, there is no mystery in his pose. Raised paws help to quickly catch insects. In addition, praying mantises are terribly gluttonous. They eat everything from aphids to medium-sized beetles. Over the course of a year, the praying mantis eats a huge number of insects, and sometimes shows a tendency towards cannibalism. Mantises become especially voracious during the mating season.

Female praying mantises are much larger than males and pose a real threat to them. Under the influence of sex hormones, praying mantises may exhibit a tendency toward cannibalism. Female praying mantises eat males with pleasure after mating or during it. Males always approach the female with the greatest caution, trying not to catch her eye.

The praying mantis has a better chance of surviving if the female has had a hearty meal and is busy eating the insect. Then the male has an excellent opportunity to hide after mating unnoticed. If this does not happen, then the female devours the male immediately after mating, happily eating his head. Hungry females are more aggressive, but they are also more attractive to partners. Hungry females release more pheromones, which attracts more people to them. more males. Although well-fed females are also popular, several individuals can fight for hungry ones at once.

Females kill males because they are driven by the instinct to take care of their offspring, the female is trying to provide him with the necessary nutrients. There is a version that the male unwittingly serves as a necessary source of protein. This theory is confirmed by the fact that well-fed females react sluggishly to males and do not always eat them after mating.

Arthropod insects from the order Praying Mantises got their Russian name due to the fact that their forelimbs are similar to human arms, bent in the hands.

While in ambush, they take a wait-and-see attitude. In the photo of praying mantises you can see this behavioral feature. This posture is associated with the position of the body of a person reading a prayer.

Description of insects

These arthropod insects have an elongated body with a head triangular shape, which rotates around its axis. Mantises notice enemies ready to attack them from behind.

Look what a praying mantis looks like, the photo shows the complex structure of its bulging eyes. They are located on the sides of the head; the insect also has 3 additional eyes.

Many segments form antennae. The mouthparts of the gnawing type are directed downwards.

A special feature is the pronotum, which expands upward. The body consists of 10 segments. On the latter there is a pair of appendages that serve as olfactory organs.

Most varieties of mantises have wings and can fly. The front pair of wings, narrower than the rear, are used as elytra.

The wider pair of wings at the rear may be brightly colored and even patterned. In addition, there are praying mantises without wings, similar to larvae.

Insects have well-developed forelimbs. The tarsi have 5 segments and 2 large claws. In addition to the tarsus, the limb includes the tibia, coxa, femur, and trochanter. The femur and tibia have spines.

During the eating process, the mantis holds the victim between the lower leg and thigh. The other legs of the insect have a typical structure for arthropods. The praying mantis breathes through the tracheal system.

The female praying mantis is larger in size than the male.

There are species that reach 16-17 cm in length, but there are also varieties no more than 5 mm.

The coloring of the body has a camouflage character. The color literally blends with the environment.

Some representatives of praying mantises resemble leaves, sticks or flowers, others are colored to resemble tree bark, lichens or ashes that are carried by the wind after a fire.

Insects can have different colors: green, brownish, yellow and even contrasting. The color of the same individual may change after molting.

Enemies of arthropod insects

Praying mantises can become prey for snakes, chameleons, bats and birds. Having encountered an enemy, the insect tries to scare the attacker.

The praying mantis adopts a terrifying pose and makes terrifying sounds. But when the enemy turns out to be stronger, he flies away.

How long does a praying mantis live?

Each species has its own life expectancy. It can vary from 2 to 11 months.

Natural habitat

Praying mantises live in most Asian and European countries in the south and central part. Insects can be found in Africa, South and North America, as well as in Australia.

Praying mantises thrive in tropical and subtropical climates. Insects live in steppes, deserts and meadows. The only reason they leave their habitat is lack of food.

Most species of mantises are active during the daytime.

What do praying mantises eat?

These arthropods are predators, so they mainly feed on other insects. Predators hunt flies, mosquitoes, bees, bumblebees, butterflies, beetles and cockroaches.

The largest representatives of this order attack small amphibians, birds and rodents.

How do praying mantises reproduce?

In insects, the transformation cycle is not complete. Mantises are characterized by sexual demorphism. Those who live in the tropics reproduce all year round. For inhabitants of temperate climate zone The breeding season begins with the onset of autumn.

Males look for females to mate with. They dance a ritual dance so that their partner does not see them as her food. In order for offspring to appear, the process of fertilization is required.

When a female praying mantis lays unfertilized eggs, they become nymphs.

Often the male dies after fertilization. The partner eats it, thereby replenishing its supply of nutrients.

There are varieties in which the male praying mantis remains alive after fertilization.

The female lays eggs on trees or tall grass. She has to squeeze them out of her ovipositor.

With the help of a sticky secretion from special glands, it protects fertilized eggs, which end up in a kind of capsule. The female, depending on the variety, can lay 10-400 eggs.

The capsule or edema can be of various shades from light yellow to gray. After laying eggs, the females soon die. Praying mantis larvae hatch from eggs at varying intervals - from 3 weeks to 6 months.

Photo of a praying mantis

Paws folded as if in prayer, a pose full of humility and sorrow - before you is a praying mantis - one of the most extraordinary creatures on earth, which cannot be confused with someone else, but can easily be mistaken for a twig, leaf or blade of grass.

Common praying mantis: close-up photo.

Mantis on cucumbers.

About 3 thousand now known species praying mantises belong to the largest detachment praying mantises - arthropod insects with incomplete metamorphosis. One of the most common species is the religious mantis ( Mantis religiosa), a member of the true praying mantis family, named by Carl Linnaeus due to its characteristic, prayerful posture.

Having examined the praying mantis more closely and learned its true character, it becomes clear that behind the deceptive humility lies a cunning, cruel and merciless predator, far from being a saint, but rather vicious.

Here is a photo of praying mantises different types from all over the world:

Red mantis, photo taken on the island of Crete.

Orchid mantis. Habitat: India and Indonesia.

Orchid mantis in all its glory.

Praying mantis Phyllocrania paradoxa. Habitat: Madagascar.

Mantis Devil's flower. Habitat: East Africa.

Mantis Blepharopsis mendica. Habitat - North Africa, Asia Minor.

Mantis, we are finding out the type of insect.

What does a praying mantis look like?

Praying mantises - enough large predators, growing up to 15 cm in length, with females being much more massive and heavier than males. Long body insects are equipped with well-developed front and rear wings, which spread out like a chic fan to intimidate enemies.

The front legs of mantises are folded in prayer only when at rest, and their main purpose is to capture and hold prey, sometimes much larger than the mantis itself. Their thighs and legs are covered with rows of large and sharp spines, to which the mantis presses the caught victim, and the hind limbs of the insects are well adapted for walking.

Mantis on flowers.

Mantis on a flower, photo No. 2.

Praying mantises can engage in cannibalism.

Mantis. The photo was taken in the Moscow region. Camera smartphone NOKIA LUMIA 1020.

The most notable feature of praying mantises is their triangular head with with huge eyes, so mobile that these insects are the only ones who can easily look behind themselves with one turn of their heads.

The oral apparatus of mantises is excellently developed, and powerful jaws They do an excellent job of grinding large and tough prey.

The art of camouflage

Praying mantises have a reputation unsurpassed masters camouflage, skillfully using camouflage colors to blend harmoniously with the surrounding landscape. For example, some African species of mantises turn black in order to successfully hunt at fire sites.

Most predators are colored in a rich, grassy - green color, there are beige and brownish specimens, and only 5 Asian species from the family Metallyticidae they are distinguished by their blue-green color with a metallic tint.

Cunning insects can not only mimic the color of foliage, stones and trees, but also skillfully imitate leaves, shoots, grass stems and even fruit seeds with the position of their bodies.

Where do praying mantises live?

Today these insects are found in southern Europe, Asia, Africa, America, Australia and are very numerous throughout their range. Praying mantises adapt well to different biotopes and, with an abundant food supply, prefer a sedentary lifestyle.

Despite their frightening appearance, mantises are highly valued by farmers of all countries, they welcome them and try to use them as effective biological weapons to combat insect pests of agriculture.

In America and a number of Asian countries they are kept as pets - exterminators of flies and mosquitoes, and lovers of exotic insects decorate their insectariums with them.

Common praying mantis (Mantis religiosa).

Common mantis, or religious mantis.

Common praying mantis.

Common praying mantis in the grass.

Mantis, macro photography.

A praying mantis on top of a cliff, against the backdrop of the Black Sea coast.

Hunting mantis

Mantises spend most of their lives in their characteristic position, waiting for prey, and thanks to their excellent vision, they mark the victim from afar and quickly attack when the prey is within reach.

Sometimes, young mantises, in order to survive, feed on their weaker brothers.

Praying mantises eat various insects, hunt small snakes, frogs and lizards, attack birds and rodents, practice cannibalism on occasion and will not refuse to feast on their own offspring.

These fearless and arrogant predators are not afraid to demonstrate their superiority by frighteningly bristling their wings and throwing them forward. long paws, raising his butt in the air and rushing into battle. If the potential victim turns out to be stronger, the mantis retreats and flies away.

Mantis defensive stance.

Mantis defensive stance.

Common mantis, or religious mantis (lat. Mantis religiosa).

According to legend, one of the most famous styles of Chinese wushu - tanglangquan or "mantis style" arose after a famous master observed the technique of a duel between two insects, when a large cicada was unable to escape from the iron grip of the mantis.

Reproduction and dance of the praying mantis

Mantises owe their fame partly to the original behavior of females, who eat males after or during mating. This feature is explained by the need of females for high doses of protein necessary for the development of eggs, so males have to resort to various tricks to avoid death.

Praying mantises mating. Transcaucasian praying mantis (Hierodula transcaucasica).

At the end of the last century, researchers studying the Chinese mantis noticed how males, during courtship, perform an eerie but effective dance in front of the female in an attempt to make them perceive themselves as a partner, and not as a food object. It is difficult to judge how well the dance really works, however, about half of the matings end quite happily for the males.

The female lays from 10 to 400 eggs, which she places in a capsule - an ootheca, and hangs on bushes, grass and tree branches. In the larval stage, the insect resembles a worm, and after hatching and shedding, it turns into a full-fledged praying mantis. Having been born, the offspring, for the purpose of self-preservation, tries to quickly hide from the mother’s eyes.

The life of mantises is interesting and short, most individuals live 6 - 7 months, and only specimens overwintering in the ooteca are able to live for a year.

The common mantis is an insect belonging to the family of true mantises. This is the most common representative of the species in Europe.

Description

It's pretty large insect. The common mantis, whose sizes range from 42 to 52 mm (males) and from 48 to 75 mm (females), is a predator. It has forelimbs adapted for holding food. The praying mantis is part of the cockroach order, forming a numerous species consisting of three thousand subspecies.

His name was given by Carl Linnaeus, the great taxonomist, who noticed that the pose of the praying mantis, when it sits in ambush, is very reminiscent of a person folding his hands in prayer. Therefore, the scientist named him Mantis religiosa, which translates as “religious priest.”

Coloring

You are probably familiar with the common praying mantis from your school biology textbooks. Its color type is very variable, ranging from yellow or green to dark brown or brownish-gray. Usually it corresponds to the habitat and matches the color of the grass, stones and leaves.

The most common color is green or white-yellow. Older individuals have a paler outfit. Dark brown spots appear on the body with age. This is explained by the fact that the body stops producing amino acids important for life: methionine, leucine, tryptophan, etc. In laboratory conditions, when these substances are added to food, the life of the insect almost doubles - up to four months. This is the maximum period that an ordinary praying mantis can live.

Biological features

These insects have well-developed wings, they fly well, but males move this way only at night, and during the day they occasionally allow themselves to flutter from branch to branch. The praying mantis has four wings. Two of them are dense and narrow, and the other two are thin and wide. They are able to open up like a fan.

The head of the praying mantis is triangular, very mobile, connected to the chest. It can rotate 180 degrees. This insect has well-developed front legs, which have powerful and sharp spines. With their help, it grabs its victim and then eats it.

The photo of the common mantis, which you can see below, clearly demonstrates that this insect has well-developed eyes. It has excellent vision. The predator, being in ambush, watches environment and instantly reacts to moving objects. It approaches the prey and grabs it with its strong paws. After this, the victim does not have the slightest chance of survival.

Unlike males, who feed on rather small insects, heavy, large females prefer their fellows of the same size, and sometimes even more. large size than them. Interesting story, associated with told E. Teal. He observed a funny situation on the street of one of the American cities. Car traffic was stopped. The drivers watched with interest the duel between the sparrow and the praying mantis. Surprisingly, the insect won the fight, and the sparrow had to retreat from the battlefield in shame.

Photo of the common mantis, habitat

The praying mantis is quite widespread in southern Europe - from Portugal to Ukraine and Turkey. He did not bypass the islands of the Mediterranean Sea (Corsica, Balearic, Sicily, Sardinia, islands Aegean Sea, Malta, Cyprus). It is often found in Sudan and Egypt, in the Middle East from Iran to Israel, and on the Arabian Peninsula.

The habitat of the common mantis also covers the southern regions of our country. Presumably introduced to the eastern United States, to New Guinea, in the 1890s. From these territories he populated almost all of America and southern Canada. At the very beginning of this century, the praying mantis was discovered in Costa Rica. There is unofficially confirmed evidence that the common mantis was found in Jamaica, Australia and Bolivia.

In Europe, the northern border of the range passes through countries and areas such as Belgium and France, Tyrol and southern Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria, southern Poland and Slovakia, forest-steppe regions of Ukraine and southern Russia.

Scientists note that at the end of the 20th century, the range began to expand to the north. The number of these insects has increased significantly in northern Germany, and the common mantis has appeared in Latvia and Belarus.

Features of reproduction

It must be said that a male praying mantis can have romantic relationship not easy: a female, larger and stronger, can easily eat an unlucky suitor, especially during the period when she is not ready to mate or is too hungry. Therefore, the common praying mantis (male) takes all precautions.

Mating season

Noticing better half, the male begins to creep up on her much more carefully than on the most dangerous and sensitive prey. The human eye cannot detect his movements. It seems that the insect is not moving at all, but it is gradually approaching the female, trying to come from behind. If the female turns in his direction at this moment, the male freezes in place for a long time, while swaying a little. Biologists believe that these movements are a signal that switches the female's behavior from hunting to love.

This rather peculiar courtship can last up to six hours. It is better for the gentleman to be a little late for this date than to rush a minute. The common mantis breeds at the very end of summer. In Russia, mating occurs from mid-August to early September. The influence of sex hormones provokes an increase in aggressiveness in the behavior of the insect. At this time, cases of cannibalism are common. main feature common praying mantis - the female devouring the male after, and sometimes during mating.

There is a version that a male praying mantis cannot copulate if he has a head, so sexual intercourse in insects begins with an unpleasant procedure for the male - the female tears off his head. However, more often mating occurs without victims, but after its completion the female eats the male, and even then only in half of the cases.

As it turned out, she eats her partner not because of her special bloodthirstiness or harmfulness, but because of the great need for protein at the first stage of egg development.

Offspring

The common mantis, a photo of which you can see in this article, lays eggs in ootecae. This is a special form of laying, characteristic of mollusks and cockroaches. It consists of horizontal rows of eggs, of which there can be two or more.

The female fills them with a foamy protein substance, which, when hardened, forms a capsule. Typically, up to 300 eggs are laid. The capsule has a fairly solid structure that easily sticks to plants or stones, protecting the egg from external influences.

Optimal humidity and temperature are maintained inside the capsule. In the ooteca, eggs cannot die even at temperatures down to -18 °C. IN temperate latitudes the eggs overwinter, and in the southern regions the incubation period is a month.

Larvae

Thirty days later, larvae emerge from the eggs. There are small spikes on their surface that help them get out of the capsule. After this, the larvae molt. Later they shed their skin and become similar to adults, but without wings. The larva of the common mantis is very mobile, it has a protective coloring.

In most areas of distribution, these hatch in late April - early May. In two and a half months they molt five times. Only after this do they become adult insects. The process of puberty lasts two weeks, then the males begin to look for their other half for mating. Praying mantises live in natural conditions- two month. The males die first. After mating, they no longer look for prey, become very lethargic and quickly die. They live only until September, and females survive them for a month. Their age ends in October.

Lifestyle and diet

The basis of the praying mantis' diet is insects. The largest individuals (mainly females) often attack lizards, frogs and even birds. The common mantis eats its prey slowly. This process can last about three hours, and the food is digested over the course of a week.

The praying mantis can hardly be called a lover of hiking. Only towards the end of summer do males radically change their lifestyle: they begin to wander around. When faced with its fellow insect, the insect gets into a fight, and the loser has a chance not only to die, but also to become dinner for the victorious opponent. Of course, on these journeys, male mantises are not looking for tournament glory at all, they need the love of a beautiful female.

The habitat of the common mantis is a tree or bush, but sometimes they can freeze on the grass or on the ground. Insects move from tier to tier, so they can be found both at the top of the crown and at the foot tall tree. And another one interesting feature: The mantis reacts exclusively to moving targets. He is not interested in stationary objects.

This predator is very voracious. An adult insect eats up to seven centimeter-sized cockroaches at a time. It takes approximately thirty minutes to eat the victim. First it eats soft tissues, and only after that it starts to eat hard ones. The praying mantis leaves limbs and wings from the cockroach. Softer insects are eaten whole. Typically, the praying mantis prefers When it has enough food, it lives on one tree throughout its life.