Praying Mantis
by Patricia Januszkiewicz
Title
Praying Mantis
Artist
Patricia Januszkiewicz
Medium
Photograph - Photo Art
Description
The praying mantis is named for its prominent front legs, which are bent and held together at an angle that suggests the position of prayer.
By any name, these fascinating insects are formidable predators. They have triangular heads poised on a long "neck," or elongated thorax. Mantids can turn their heads 180 degrees to scan their surroundings with two large compound eyes and three other simple eyes located between them.
Typically green or brown and well camouflaged on the plants among which they live, mantis lie in ambush or patiently stalk their quarry. They use their front legs to snare their prey with reflexes so quick that they are difficult to see with the naked eye. Their legs are further equipped with spikes for snaring prey and pinning it in place.
Moths, crickets, grasshoppers, flies, and other insects are usually the unfortunate recipients of unwanted mantid attention. However, the insects will also eat others of their own kind. The most famous example of this is the notorious mating behavior of the adult female, who sometimes eats her mate just afteror even duringmating. Yet this behavior seems not to deter males from reproduction
Uploaded
September 6th, 2013
Statistics
Viewed 109 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/18/2024 at 1:16 PM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet