Praying Mantis

The praying mantis is a large predatory insect found on every continent except Antarctica, named for its distinctive posture, in which its long, spiked forelegs are held folded in front of the body as though in prayer, ready to snap outward and seize prey in a fraction of a second. It has a triangular head that can rotate nearly 180 degrees, giving it an unusually wide field of view among insects, and large compound eyes well suited to detecting the movement of passing prey such as other insects, which it ambushes from camouflaged, motionless stillness rather than active pursuit. Mantises are solitary and highly territorial, and in several species the larger female sometimes cannibalizes the smaller male during or after mating, a behavior that has made the group a frequent subject of popular fascination. With thousands of described species worldwide, mantises vary enormously in size, color and camouflage strategy, with many closely resembling leaves, bark or flowers to avoid detection by both predators and prey.