DO PRAYING MANTIS BITE? FACTS AND ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW 

Posted on Author Sherif

Do Praying Mantis Bite – You must have heard about Praying Mantis, maybe read it in a book or you had a discussion about it with someone. For those who don’t know about Praying Mantis, well this article is meant for you. This article will give you facts and everything you need to know about The Praying Mantis and a little shocker if you don’t know Praying Mantis is an insect.

Do Praying Mantis Bite? Facts And What You Need To Know

Science is all about learning and discovering things daily, science and technology has made life easier for us all, with credible details placed on the internet, you are able to source out for any information which you seek or require, information which must have cost you time, money and energy to even source out for, but here it is. Many do not really know about much on Praying Mantis or even how the name came about. Mantis contains about 2,400 species in about 430 genera, they are distributed worldwide in different temperatures and different climatic conditions. Mantises have long been in existence, they were once placed in the same order as cockroaches and rock crawlers, the name was formed from the ancient Greeks and it was coined in 1838 by the German entomologist Hermann Burmeister while the praying Mantis came from Europe because the insect has a typical prayer like structure. If you have been following through from the article, you will know that mantises have been in existence for a very long time now, the earliest mantis fossils are about 135 million years old from Siberia which decreased over time from year to year till only 25 fossil species were known in the year 2007.

Do Praying Mantis Bite

Mantises have two spiked forelegs, these forelegs are used in catching prey and securing food items, it can also be used as a defense mechanism most times, they are categorized by being long-winged,  short-winged, winged and wingless. They have two sets of wings, the outer wing which is narrow and has a leather-like texture that is mostly used as camouflage and shield for the hind wings, the hind wings are known to be clearer and more delicate. In terms of vision, they are known to have stereo vision, their compound eyes contain up to 10,000 ommatidia; Ommatidia contains a cluster of photoreceptor cells surrounded by support cells and pigment cells, all the compounds eyes of insects are composed of Ommatidia so you should know it’s not only the praying mantis, I guess this is a fact which you should remember. Mantises have two compound eyes which are bulbous, large triangular head with a beak and mandibles, three small simple eyes and a pair of antennae. Mantises are made in such a way that their neck is very flexible, some species can rotate their neck up to 180°, their thorax consists of a prothorax, mesothorax, and a metathorax.

There is a small area of the eyes of the mantises which has greater visual acuity than the rest of the eye and they can produce high resolution which can be used to examine potential prey, when a moving object is noticed by the mantis, the head of the mantis moves rotationally to bring the moving object into the visual field of the fovea. They have a dark spot on each eye that moves as it rotates its head and its called a Pseudopupil. Praying mantis are diurnal insects, this is because they see more during the day, as their hunting permanently relies on vision, but some species of praying mantis flies at night and they are mostly attracted to artificial lights. Many males fly at night locating less-mobile females by detecting their pheromones. This little write up has given you information about the Praying Mantis, however, there is more to come. Below we will give you some important facts you need to know about the Praying Mantis and does the praying mantis bite?

Does Praying Mantis Bite?

Several questions have been coming up if the praying mantis bites or not,  well here is the answer. The praying mantis is an insect so yes it bites. However, you should know that their bites are not harmful to humans, as they have no negative effects. Mantises should be properly cared for and they will live longer, they are not to be provoked in any way so that they will not bite.

Facts About Praying Mantis

Below are some facts which you need to know about this insect, if you would love to keep one as a pet, then you should know what and what not to do, so as to get them not to be provoked, and know what they eat, right temperature and the right environment.

  • Do you know that females of some praying mantis species will eat the male when mating with the male? I know reading this will sound absurd but this is very true. Some female species of praying mantis are known to eat the males during sexual intercourse, the females will bite the leg or the head off the male during intercourse. This is called sexual cannibalism although, this occurs less than 30% of the time. A Hollywood movie about this mating ritual was made, it was about a murderous bride in 1993 and it was even titled Praying Mantis in honour of the mating ritual.
  • Praying mantis are capable of killing other insects three times their size, most times they are referred to as Carnivorous insects. Mantises are known to be camouflage along with other plants. Species that live on the ground floor are spotted brown while those that live on trees tend to be green, others are seen on different colours, the same colours with flowers these are called the flower mantis. Praying mantis feed on insects, mice, turtles, snakes and they are known to strike fast with the blink of an eye, eating all these insects makes the praying mantis beneficial to the economy as many farmers have used them to help protect their crops, but you should know that they are dangerous to humans. They are popularly called the insect-eating machine with their triangular head which turns 180° they are capable of forming their own pest control with their bulgy eyes.
  • Praying mantis has small spectacles. The praying mantis has been receiving the media attention over the recent years, for their collaboration with scientists in the Neuroscience department from Newcastle University. The scientists have been fitting Super small 3D glasses on praying mantis. The research team has done their findings and they say that the study of this may help us program 3D vision for robots. I know you must be wondering why only mantises was selected, they were selected bedside they were the only insects that have 3D vision like humans, the mantises which have been used for this project are not worried about the glasses placed in their eyes so far, as they have gone about their usual business hunting for their prey.
  • Praying mantis are used as pets in some homes, if fed and cared for very well they can live for over a year. They are praying mantis complete care set kits online, and you can purchase their nymph eggs from some garden centres. You should know that each species of mantises requires a specific condition to thrive, they must have good temperature and humidity to stay. Most websites recommend you feeding the praying mantis different sets of live insects, you should know the species you bought, what they like and what they don’t so that it will be easy for you to take care of.
  • Mantises are prey to animals like frogs, lizards, birds, large species of spiders and ants. They protect themselves by camouflage while some are colored to resemble foliage or background both to avoid predators and scare their prey. Some species in Africa are able to turn black after a molt towards the end of the dry season, the bush fire enables them to carry out this process successfully.

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In conclusion, praying mantis are insects which have been proven beneficial to humans and also dangerous to humans, although, their bite does not carry any venom, but humans are advised to be careful when dealing with them, so you will not provoke them. We believe this article has been helpful to you, as we have given you amazing facts and interesting knowledge on the question “Do praying mantis bite” that you need to know and answered your question rightly, does praying mantis bite?  And now you know the answer which is yes.

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