NEWS102
44
FemaleOrchidMantis (L5).Imagineshave fullydevelopedwings.
Allphotos:FrankSchäfer
heOrchidMantis
Prayingmantisesormantidsbelongto
the insects, the most successful group of
animals on our planet. The number of
T
Theworldof invertebrates is full of fascinating creatures. In thisNewswe
present one of the most beautiful praying mantises and a new, as yet
unidentifiedamphibious crab.
Colorful creepers for the
terrarium
bySebastianZimmer
described insect species is estimated at
almost a million and new species are
constantly beingdiscovered anddescribed.
Themantidsconstituteonlyacomparatively
small percentage of these species, as there
are only around 2,300 of them. But that is
nevertheless quite an impressive figure
whenweconsiderthatthereareonlyaround
5,500speciesofmammals in total.
All mantids are predatory. They are lurking
hunterswithperfect camouflage, that lie in
waitforpassing insectswhichtheyseizewith
specially shaped raptorial legs and then
devour. The lurking posture typical of all
mantids is vaguely reminiscent of that of a
person praying with folded hands, hence
their popular name of praying mantises.
These insectsdonotpossessanypoison.
There aremantids that look like little sticks,
others that imitate ridges of bark,while yet
othersarealmost impossible tospotamong
grass. But the most attractive mantids are
undoubtedly those that imitate flowers and
lie in wait for nectar-feeding insects in
flowering plants. They include the Orchid
Mantis,
Hymenopuscoronatus
.
Naturaldistribution
TheOrchidMantis is relativelywidespread in
South and South-East Asia. It is found from
India across the Malayan Peninsula to the
Sunda Islands. Within this range it is an
inhabitantof tropical rainforests, just like the
orchids whose colorful flowers the adult
insect imitatessoperfectly.
Lifecycle
Mantids go through a so-called incomplete
metamorphosis. Thismeans that the larvae
that hatch from the eggs are already very
similar anatomically to theparent insects.A
well-known
example
of
complete
metamorphosis is the butterflies, in which
the larvae (caterpillars) aren’t remotely
similar to the subsequent adults and don’t
develop into the winged insect until the
pupastage.
Groß-&Einzelhandel
Terraristik-Zimmer
Tel.: 0163 7120469
Critters
