Praying Mantis - Insektenliebe

Praying mantises are fascinating creatures and widespread in the world. They can also be kept very well at home. Even people who aren’t much into insects otherwise can easily be convinced of the mantis’ fascination when they turn their head and look at you over their shoulder (that’s right, they are the only insect species that can do that!) Mantises come in many different colors, from pink like an orchid mantis to white. However, most are brown or green. Praying mantises are fairly easy to raise, a lot of fun, and certainly you will learn a lot about these unique and exciting insects simply by watching their daily antics.

Systematics

The systematics (ancient Greek: ordered) of living things, also called biosystematics. Classical systematics is mainly concerned with the classification, naming, and identification of living things. Systematics also includes the reconstruction of the phylogeny of organisms and the study of the processes that lead to the diversity of organisms (theory of evolution).

The mantids belong to the subphylum of the

Trachea (Tracheata)

The group owes its name Trachea to a feature that is very important for terrestrial life. They have a system of so-called tracheae. These are air channels that run through the body to supply all cells with oxygen and in some places open to the outside through so-called stigmata, an opening of the tracheal system.

Another adaptation to life on land was the reduction to one pair of antennae in contrast to crustaceans. This corresponds to the first pair of antennae of the crustaceans and so the tracheal animals can then be easily classified.

Simplified summarized we can say now already the following about mantids:

– They do not breathe through the nose or mouth but through trachea.
– They have a pair of antennae

(Here as an example of a tracheal animal a silverfish. I use them for the incubation of my phasmid eggs as very reliable mold killers).

The mantids belong to the superclass of

hexapods

The hexapods have, above all, the characteristic that bodies fixed on a fixed number of segments. Thereby, for example, the head consists of six fused segments, which can be recognized by the head limbs and especially the nerve nodes in the head area. The head, as we already know, carries a pair of antennae as well as three pairs of mouthparts called mandibles, maxillae and labium. The labium corresponds to the 2nd maxillae of crustaceans and millipedes, it most likely originated from a fusion of the paired 3rd mouth extremities.

The thoracic region (lat. thorax) always consists of three segments, each bearing a pair of walking legs (making a total of three pairs of walking legs and six walking legs), thus giving this group its name. In the flying insects (Pterygota), the last two thoracic segments carry the wings.

The basic pattern of the abdomen consists of 11 segments plus a so-called telson. The telson is the last body segment carrying the anus. These segments may be partially fused among the different groups within the hexapods.

Other characteristics of the hexapods are the tail appendages, consisting of two cerci, which is the name given to the paired abdominal appendages on the last abdominal segment, and a terminal filum, that is the third filament in the middle. In addition, the hexapods have compound eyes and point eyes in the basic structural plan and of course the already mentioned tracheal system.

In summary, we now know the following about mantids:

– They do not breathe through the nose or mouth but through tracheas

– They have one pair of antennae
– They have three pairs of mouthparts (mandibles, maxillae and labium)
– The thorax consists of three segments on which there are six legs
– They have three tail appendages

(Springtails belong to the group of hexapods. They are the perfect recyclers in any terrarium substrate).

The mantids belong to the superclass of

Insects

Insects are the most species-rich class of animals of all. Approximately one million insect species have been scientifically described to date. This means that more than 60 percent of all described animal species are insects.
If humans were to become extinct, it would have no direct impact on nature. However, if insects became extinct, it would have a massive impact on the entire ecosystem.

The outer layer of the insect body is the chitinous carapace, which contains chitin as well as several proteins. It is formed by an underlying epidermis. Embedded in it are the sensory organs and various glands of the insect. With more or less involvement of the epidermis, the chitinous carapace forms various surface structures that include warts, spines, hairs, bristles, scales, and humps. The outer layer of the insect or individual parts of the body may be colored due to the incorporation of pigments or due to special light-refracting surfaces.

The sensory organs are mainly hair sensilla, which are distributed over the body. These react to vibrations and oscillations, but can also perceive odors, moisture or temperatures. Some of these sensory cells are grouped into sensory organs. The compound eyes as well as the ocelli serve as optical sense organs, and in many larvae also the larval dot eyes.

The blood vascular system of insects consists essentially of a cavity, the haemocoel, in which all internal organs float in blood. This is called an open circulatory system.

Except for a few species, all insects are heterosexual. Very few species are hermaphrodites; a number of species reproduce by parthenogenesis.

In summary, we now know the following about mantids:

(Desert locusts are insects and are excellent food for mantids).

The mantids belong to the subclass of

Flying insects

As flying insects (Pterygota) all insects (Insecta) are summarized, which are equipped with wings. This includes the species that have lost the ability to fly in the course of evolution. The wings represent a thin chitinous plate, which is interwoven with tracheae. They probably evolved from a flattening of the lateral plates (paranota) on all three thoracic segments (thorax). However, flying insects living today possess only two pairs of wings, on the second and third thoracic segments, respectively.

In summary, we now know the following about mantids:

– They do not breathe through the nose or mouth but through tracheas.
– They have one pair of antennae
– They have three pairs of mouthparts (mandibles, maxillae and labium)
– The thorax consists of three segments on which there are six legs
– They have three tail appendages
– They have a chitinous carapace
– They have mainly hair sensilla as sense organs
– They have an open blood circulation
– Mantids are unisexual
– They have two pairs of wings

(Drosophilas belong to the flying insects and serve as food animals for mantids at the beginning of their life).

The mantids belong to the superorder of the

New Wings

A special joint and the corresponding musculature serves as the defining characteristic of the new-winged moths (Neoptera). With the help of this joint, they can fold the wings backwards onto the abdomen.

It is this ability to fold the wings close to the body that allows them to colonize a range of habitats. This modification gives them the ability to hide and enter narrow burrows and crevices. Along with the modification of the joint and flight musculature, the wing itself had to be redesigned to become retractable. This was done via a series of furrows in the wing.

In summary, we now know the following about mantids:

– They do not breathe through the nose or mouth but through tracheas.
– They have a pair of antennae
– They have three pairs of mouthparts (mandibles, maxillae and labium)
– The thorax consists of three segments on which there are six legs
– They have three tail appendages
– They have a chitinous carapace
– They have mainly hair sensilla as sense organs
– They have an open blood circulation
– Mantids are unisexual
– They have two pairs of wings
– Their wings are close to the body

(To enhance houseflies as feeders, you can dust them with Korvimin ZVT beforehand).

The mantids belong to the order of

Mantids

The unusual appearance for insects of the mantis shrimp is due to the transformation of the first pair of legs to mantis legs and especially to an extension of the first thoracic segment, which greatly extends the action radius of the mantis legs. The triangular head of the animals is connected to the prothorax via the neck. Unlike almost all other insects, the head of mantises can be rotated over a large angle. This transformation of the thorax with the rotatability of the head is otherwise found only in the camel-necked flies and in the mantis, which belong to the reticulated flies.

The mantis legs of the mantis shrimp are formed by the lower leg and the thigh. The lower leg (tibia) bears many spines and a large terminal claw. It can be folded against the spiny femur like a pocket knife. The hip limbs are also elongated and free to move. With these tentacles, the mantis can strike within 0.1 seconds to capture a victim. Many species can even catch flies from the air with this precise catching apparatus. In a lurking position, the mantis legs are raised and held against the body, which is how the animals got the name praying mantis.

The animals’ large compound eyes are widely spaced, allowing stereocopic vision. Since they are used to locate and track prey, as well as to accurately locate sexual partners, they represent the most important sensory organ of the animals. Another sensory organ is the unpaired hearing organ between the hind hips of some species. With this, sounds in the range of 25 to 130 kHz can be heard, it probably serves to locate bats during flight. The so-called auditory fissure is located between the 2nd and 3rd pair of legs and is only 0.2 mm wide. Females have a lower hearing capacity than males. Some species also have two hearing organs arranged one below the other, which can perceive different frequencies. Other species have no hearing organ at all.

In summary, we now know the following about mantids:

– They do not breathe through the nose or mouth but through tracheas
– They have one pair of antennae
– They have three pairs of mouthparts (mandibles, maxillae and labium)
– The thorax consists of three segments on which there are six legs
– They have three tail appendages
– They have a chitinous carapace
– They have mainly hair sensilla as sense organs
– They have an open blood circulation
– Mantids are unisexual
– They have two pairs of wings
– Their wings are close to the body
– They use their tentacles to kill their prey
– They can turn their triangular head over a large angle
– With their compound eyes they can see stereoscopically
– They have an unpaired hearing organ between the hind hips

(Mantis religiosa, the only mantis species living in Germany)