Mantis

Mantises are an <a href="/facts/Order_(biology)/GKLJvIpt">order</a> (Mantodea) of <a href="/facts/Insect/IgDNvnUL">insects</a> that contains <a href="/facts/List_of_mantis_genera_and_species/r2otYGsb">over 2,400 species in about 460 genera</a> in 33 families. The largest family is the <a href="/facts/Mantidae/TSA6Jw9c">Mantidae</a> ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in <a href="/facts/Temperate/6WPypCzC">temperate</a> and <a href="/facts/Tropical/Iv1es8Ih">tropical</a> habitats. They have triangular heads with bulging eyes supported on flexible necks. Their elongated bodies may or may not have wings, but all mantodeans have forelegs that are greatly enlarged and adapted for catching and gripping prey; their upright posture, while remaining stationary with forearms folded, resembling a praying posture, has led to the common name praying mantis.
The closest relatives of mantises are <a href="/facts/Termite/KRFbDumW">termites</a> and <a href="/facts/Cockroach/mKJP7W6j">cockroaches</a> (<a href="/facts/Blattodea/fKeG3lcD">Blattodea</a>), which are all within the <a href="/facts/Superorder/GKLJvIpt">superorder</a> <a href="/facts/Dictyoptera/1JkFL1FI">Dictyoptera</a>. Mantises are sometimes confused with stick insects (<a href="/facts/Phasmatodea/T9cVxVlr">Phasmatodea</a>), other elongated insects such as <a href="/facts/Grasshopper/gyPPoBhh">grasshoppers</a> (<a href="/facts/Orthoptera/aHmEVxF3">Orthoptera</a>), or other more distantly related insects with <a href="/facts/Raptorial/WY3qRwC2">raptorial</a> forelegs such as mantisflies (<a href="/facts/Mantispidae/UTYKBdPR">Mantispidae</a>). Mantises are mostly <a href="/facts/Ambush_predator/Va9QYvEB">ambush predators</a>, but a few ground-dwelling species are found actively pursuing their prey. They normally live for about a year. In cooler climates, the adults lay eggs in autumn, then die. The eggs are protected by their hard capsules and hatch in the spring. Females sometimes practice <a href="/facts/Sexual_cannibalism/hxjXlByn">sexual cannibalism</a>, eating their mates after copulation.
Mantises were considered to have <a href="/facts/Supernatural_powers/qSlTK0Ss">supernatural powers</a> by early civilizations, including <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greece/PTVBrWXq">ancient Greece</a>, <a href="/facts/Ancient_Egypt/BDsEGK4g">ancient Egypt</a>, and <a href="/facts/Assyria/n9pMP48S">Assyria</a>. A cultural <a href="/facts/Trope_(literature)/xwQxCxqx">trope</a> popular in <a href="/facts/Cartoon/24v34f3m">cartoons</a> imagines the female mantis as a <a href="/facts/Femme_fatale/Xm8E98jJ">femme fatale</a>. Mantises are among the insects most commonly kept as <a href="/facts/Pet/DIG0CzQ8">pets</a>.

Mantis open-in-new

Mantis