Table of content

  • Introduction of the Insect
  • Classification
  • Distribution and Status
  • Identification
  • Problems with Identical signs
  • Habit and Habitat
  • Life cycle (Bionomics)
  • Damage
  • Common signs and symptoms of infestation
  • Symptoms of damage
  • Why is it important?
  • Management
  • Cultural practices
  • Biological control
  • Chemical treatment
  • Restrictions
  • Genome sequences
  • Published research.
  • References

Praying Mantis

Introduction of the Insect

Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae (“mantids”). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They have triangular heads with bulging eyes supported on flexible necks. Their elongated bodies may or may not have wings, but all Mantodea have forelegs that are greatly enlarged and adapted for catching and gripping prey; their upright posture, while remaining stationary with forearms folded, has led to the common name praying mantis.

English name      Praying Mantis

Bangla name       [NO INFORMATION AVAILABLE]

Scientific name   [NO INFORMATION AVAILABLE]

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Infraclass: Neoptera
Subclass: Pterygota
Order: Mantodea
Family: Mantidae
Subfamily: Orthoderinae
Genus: Orthodera
Subject: Orthodera ministralis Fabricius, 1775

Praying mantises appear to be “praying” when their front legs are held at rest. These long, narrow insects have a distinctive appearance with large predatory front legs and long, sharp spines that are used for grasping prey.

The praying mantis life cycle can be divided into three life stages; egg, nymph, and adult. Eggs are laid in the fall in an egg case called the ootheca. The ootheca may contain up to 200 praying mantis eggs. It protects the eggs through the winter. When spring arrives, the young nymphs emerge from the ootheca. In this early stage of life, they have no wings but can still hunt small live prey. As they feed, the nymphs grow into adults through metamorphosis. Praying mantis metamorphosis is much different from the complete four-stage metamorphosis of butterflies and moths. Complete metamorphosis includes a larva stage. Praying mantises undergo an incomplete or hemimetabolic metamorphosis, in which the nymph grows directly into the adult. Nymphs grow and molt, shed their exoskeleton, and grow a new one several times to reach the adult stage. Although females generally live longer than males and females, an individual praying mantis life span is not more than one year. They typically live six to twelve months. No adults survive through the winter. Only the ootheca can withstand the winter cold. A female laying the ootheca is shown in the image. Notice her large body size and small wings.

Mantises are very fast predators and known to capture different types of insects using their modified raptorial foreleg claws and feed on them using strong mandibles. Mantises have an ambush type of feeding behavior in which they sit and wait for their prey to come by. Once prey is in their reach, they can turn their flexible neck in 1800, quickly grab passing insect prey with their spiny foreleg claws and munch on it.

They are also known to camouflage with vegetation or surroundings to mislead their victims. Both the nymphs and adults of mantids directly feed on crop pests like aphids, beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, mites, crane flies, moths, butterflies and their larvae, caterpillars, grubs or nymphs.

Therefore, these dead insect pests will not produce future generations of insect pests and that is how mantids control insect pests (Photo 5 and 6). Mantids are most effective against moths because they are active like them during the night. Another important advantage is that can also feed on mosquitoes that are know do spread human diseases