Some interesting facts about Praying Manitis

Mantis

What are the Mantis's Eating Habits?

1. Extremely predacious
2. Eats only live prey, or at least prey that is moving, and hence, appears alive
3. Some say that it will eat "anything," even reptiles and small birds, but others indicate it prefers "soft bodied" insects which it can easily devour. These dietary preferences very by species. Males are generally less aggressive predators than females.
4. Cannibalistic, both as a nymph and as a adult. Baby mantids will eat other babies, adults will eat their own or others' babies, and adults will eat each other
5. Diurnal, that is, mainly eats during the day. But mantids also congregate and feed around artificial light sources.
6. Often waits motionless for unsuspecting prey to get within striking distance--a "sit-and wait" and wait or ambush strategy, but also can slowly stalk prey
7. Often begins to undulate and sway just before striking its prey. Some have speculated this is to mimic the movement of surrounding foliage. Others suggest that this behavior aids in the visualization process.
8. Attacks by "pinching" and impaling prey between its spiked lower tibia and upper femur
9. The mantid's strike takes an amazing 30 to 50 one-thousandth of a second. The strike is so fast that it cannot be processed by the human brain. It uses the view before and after the strike and "tricks" you into seeing what occurs in-between.
10. After securing the prey with its legs, rapidly chews at the prey's neck to immobilize it
11. If well fed, will selectively choose to devour "select" parts of its prey and discard the rest
12. If any part of the prey is dropped during feeding, it will not retrieve it.
13. After eating, will often use its mouth to clean the food particles from the spines of its
14. tibia, and then wipe its face in a cat-like manner.

How do Mantis's Mate and Reproduce?

A. One of the most interesting, and to humans, disturbing features of mantid life is the female's tendency to eat her mate

B. During late summer, a female mantis, already heavy with eggs, is believed to excrete a chemical attractant to tempt a willing male into mating

C. The current state of research seems to indicate that the female sometimes devours the male during the mating process (between 5-31% if the time)

D. The dead male may also serve as a source of protein for the female and her young.

E. Recent research indicates that fertilization can take place without the male's death and that his demise is not necessary to the process

F. The male's sperm cells are stored in a special chamber in the female's abdomen called the spermatheca.

G. The female can begin lay her eggs as early as a day after mating.

H. As the eggs pass through her reproductive system, they are fertilized by the stored sperm.

I. After finding a suitably raised location--a branch, stem, or building overhang--special
appendages at the base of her abdomen "froth" the gelatinous egg material into the shape
characteristic of the particular species as its exits her ovipositor.

J. By instinct, the female twists her abdomen in a spiral motion to create many individual
"cells" or chambers within the ootheca or egg case.

K. The egg laying process takes between 3 and 5 hours

L. The ootheca soon hardens into a paper mache like substance that is resistant to the birds and animals that would attempt to eat it.

M. The carefully crafted pockets of air between the individual egg cells acts insulation against cold winter temperatures

N. The number and size of egg cases deposited by a female also varies by species and she dies sometime after her final birthing

Praying Mantis

TAXONOMY

Kingdom - Animal
Phylum - Arthropoda
Class - Insecta
Order - Dictyoptera
Family - Mantidae
Genus - Stagomantis
Species - carolina

What is a Praying Mantis? The praying mantids, or praying mantises, are carnivorous insects that belong to the family. There are about 2,000 species of mantids. The biggest praying mantises are the Tenodera and the Archimantis, which are six inches long! The smallest praying mantis is the Bolbe pygmaea, which is only 2/5 of an inch, or one-centimeter. Unbelievably, some scientists agree the mantis is closely related to the cockroach. The name "mantis" comes from the Greek word for 'prophet' or 'soothsayer.' The Carolina mantid is a common insect of Eastern United States. The European and Chinese species were introduced to the Northeastern United States about 75 years ago as garden predators in hopes of overtaking the native pest population.

DESCRIPTION

Praying mantises are about 2/5-12 inches according to species. Their colors vary, ranging from light greens to pinks. Most mantids are pea green or brown. The tropical flower mantises, which resemble flowers, are usually light colors such as pink. Flower mantises, from Africa or the Far East, so closely resemble flowers that insects will often land on them to get nectar.

Camouflage is very important for the praying mantis' survival. Because they have so many enemies such as birds, they must blend in with their habitat to avoid being eaten. They have a triangular-shaped head with a large compound eye on each side. Praying mantids are the only insect that turn from side to side in a full 180-degree angle. Their eyes are sensitive to the slightest movement up to 60 feet away. They have straight, leathery forewings and very powerful jaws used for devouring its prey. They have ultrasound ears on their Metathoraxes. The Metathorax is located on the thorax. Also, the males' genitalia are asymmetrical. They have a long prothorax and strong, spiny front legs held together in a praying manner. In the bodies of some species of mantis, there is a hollow chamber. Recently it has been discovered that these hollow chambers provide the mantis with a means of detecting bats, one of their most feared predators. Apparently, the mantis in flight will drastically change its flight pattern (often hurling to the ground in a spiral) when the mantis hears certain frequencies of sound.

HABITAT

Nearly 2,000 species of mantids are widely distributed throughout tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate areas of the world. Different species live in many parts of countries such as North and South America, South Africa, Europe, the Southern parts of Asia and some parts of Australia. Praying mantids in North America are usually green or brown. There are three main types of mantids in Eastern United States: the European mantid (Mantis religiosa), Carolina mantid (Stagmomantis carolina) and Chinese mantid (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis).

DIET

The praying mantis is a carnivorous insect that takes up a deceptively humble posture when it is searching for food. When at rest, the mantis' front forelegs are held up together in a posture that looks like its praying. These front legs are equipped with rows of sharp spines used to grasp its prey. They wait unmoving and are almost invisible on a leaf or a stem, ready to catch any insect that passes. When potential prey comes close enough, the mantis thrusts its pincher-like forelegs forward to catch it. The prey probably won't escape because the forelegs are so strong and armed with overlapping spines. The mantid bites the neck of its prey to paralyze it and begins to devour it. The mantis almost always starts eating the insect while it's still alive, and almost always starts eating from the insect's neck. This way, the mantis makes sure that the insect's struggle stops quickly. Praying mantises eat insects and other invertebrates such as other mantises, beetles, butterflies, spiders, crickets, grasshoppers, and even spiders. The praying mantises also eat vertebrates such as small tree frogs, lizards, mice and hummingbirds. Praying mantids can resemble flowers and can catch small, unknowing hummingbirds. Praying mantids also eat other nesting birds.

BREEDING

Breeding season is in the summer in temperate areas. After mating, the female will lay groups of 12-400 eggs in the autumn, in a "frothy" liquid called an "ootheca", that turns into a hard protective shell. This is how these insects survive during the wintertime. Small mantids emerge in the spring. Often, their first meal is a sibling. Young mantids or nymphs, also eat leafhoppers, aphids and small flies. Young mantids will shed many times before it is full grown. It takes an entire summer or growing season for mantids to mature to adulthood. One generation develops each season. Many species of mantids resemble ants when they are small, but as they go through a series of molts, they begin to look more like adult mantids.

BENEFICIAL OR NOT?

Most often people think mantises are pests. That is only partly true. They can be beneficial, too. Praying mantises are terrific pest exterminators. They keep down the population of bugs that are a threat to farming. A master of disguise, the praying mantis can be an able assistant to farmer and gardener. Look carefully in your backyard. Perhaps that deceptive shape is a praying mantis poised for his next meal.

Some Interesting Facts About Dung Beetles

Facts

1. Dung beetles are a relatively modern group of beetles, their fossils only extend back to 40 million years ago.
2. There are about 7 000 species world wide.
3. Dung beetles range from less than 1mm to a giant 6cm.
4. Dung beetles occur on every continent except Antarctica.
5. The life expectancy for most dung beetles range from three to five years.
6. A researcher observed that a small 1.5 Kg pile of Elephant dung on the African savannah attracted 16 000 dung beetles of various shapes and sizes, who between them had eaten and or buried that dung completely in just two hours. One dung beetle can bury 250 times its own weight in a night.
7. Most of the dung beetles in the world use herbivore dung, though many are not very particular and will use many different forms of dung,
8. Some species have definite preferences for one type of dung only.
9. Onthophagus caenobita has only ever been found feeding in human faeces.
10. A dung beetle in South America called Zonocopris gibbicolis feeds on the faeces of large snails on whom it rides around.
11. The female dung beetle lays a single egg into each ball of dung and then covers the nest with more dung and soil. When the eggs hatch, the larvae will feed on the fecal matter.

Dung beetles can be divided into 3 groups, Rollers, Tunnellers and Dwellers. Rollers are species who make a burrow some way away from the dung they are going to use and then collect small to medium sized lumps of dung to roll into their burrows. Typhaeus typhoeus, the Minotaur Beetle, can dig burrows up to one metre deep. Generally the female does most of the digging and the male spends most of his time collecting the dung for her. Rollers dig their front legs into the ground and use their back legs to push the ball of dung.

Tunnellers fly until they find some fecal matter into which they dive. They dig a tunnel and then drag as much dung as they like down into it. Again it is mostly the female who stays in the burrow sorting out the dung and the male who goes out to get it.

Some dung beetles eat and lay their eggs on dung some other beetle has collected. The thief often eats the legitimate dung-owners eggs as well as stealing their dung.

The females of many of the larger 'Rollers' stay inside their burrows and care for and protect their eggs and young, these species can live for up to 3 years. Some of these larger dung beetles can move balls of dung up to 50 times their own weight.


Australia imported 45 species of dung beetle from various parts of the world to get rid of cattle dung.

In ancient Egypt the scarab or dung beetle was the most important religious symbol. In some Indian tribes from South America a dung beetle named Aksak is supposed to have modelled the first man and woman from clay.

Without dung beetles, the earth would be piled high with manure.

Reproduction

The rollers establish a pair bond. They usually meet in the dung pat. The male offers the female a giant-sized brood ball which if accepted, they roll away together, or with the female riding on the ball. During this time, other beetles often attempt to steel the ball. They find a soft place and bury the ball before mating - mostly underground. The male then leaves to find further partners. The female of this species makes a brood 'pear' or 'pears' and lays a single egg in each. She then coats the pear with an antiseptic mixture of dung, saliva and faeces to seal it in a case which hardens solid. Unusual in insects, this species exhibits the highest level of parental care seen in an insect. She stays with the ball and her grub for two months, cleaning it and removing its faeces, fungi and bacteria.


Dung Beetles

How do dung beetles (Scarabaeus zambesianus) maximize their chance to get the most out of the available dung? Get it away from competitors. New research suggests this beetle can use polarized moonlight at night to navigate the way as it rolls a dung ball to a safe spot away from the pile. Observers watched beetles foraging on moonlit nights and cloudy or moonless nights. With a moon, the beetles rolled their dung balls away in a straight line. This is the most efficient path. Without a moon, the beetles could not roll the ball in a straight line. Further, to differentiate between influence of the moon itself and moonlight’s polarization pattern, a large polarizing filter was placed over the beetles. When adjusted by 90 degrees, this caused the beetles’ course to be changed by 90 degrees. Researchers concluded it was not the moon itself, but the polarization pattern that guided the dung beetle. It is known that many creatures use the polarization pattern of sunlight for navigation, but this believed to be the first time the use of moonlight polarization patterns has been documented. –Nature Brief Communications, July 3, 2003.

The Dragonfly - Interesting Facts About Dragonflies

You see them in your yard, in the woods, and in fields. They come in a variety of beautiful colors. But what do you really know about the dragonflies that share our world? After reading this compilation of interesting dragonfly facts ... you'll know a lot.

21 Interesting Facts

1. Despite their name, dragonflies are not related to common flies. In fact, they are part of an entirely different order of insects. Dragonflies are part of the Odonata order, which also includes damselflies.
2. Worldwide, the Odonata order of insects (dragonflies and damselflies) includes more than 5,000 individual species. They exist in many countries around the world. Within the United States, there are about 400 species of Odonata.
3. You often see dragonflies near bodies of water (ponds, lakes and slow-moving streams) because they lay their eggs on or near the water.
4. Dragonfly young (nymphs) have a special appendage on their head that they use as a spear to catch small fish. They are predatory insects from birth.
5. Dragonflies are not born with wings. They are born in a larvae state and eventually go through a partial metamorphosis process, during which they grow their wings.
6. Dragonflies spend most of their lives in the larva stage (up to three years, depending on the species). The adult, winged stage only lasts a few weeks. Mating is the primary reason for their winged stage. So when you see a winged dragonfly, you know it's toward the end of its lifespan. Sad but true.
7. Male dragonflies can be very territorial, staking claim to a particular area alongside a pond or stream. When you see two adults chasing each other through the air, it is often one male chasing another from its territory.
8. When you see two dragonflies flying through the air attached to one another, it is almost always a male and female mating.
9. Dragonflies will sometimes travel in swarms, which may be related to weather changes such as the passage of cold fronts.
10. Dragonflies prey on other creatures through their entire life cycle. As larva in bodies of water, they prey on other small creatures (mosquito larva, tiny fish, etc.). As adults, they eat other flying insects.
11. Dragonflies can be useful in controlling mosquito populations. Mosquitoes are one of their primary food sources!
12. Dragonflies are ancient insects. They have existed on Planet Earth for approximately 300 million years. Today, they look very much like they did in "dinosaur times," though they have gradually gotten smaller since then.
13. The largest dragonfly fossil (one of the earliest) had a wingspan of nearly three feet. That makes it the largest flying insect in known history.
14. Dragonflies have two pairs of wings. The wings are mostly transparent and move very fast, so it often appears that they have more than two pairs.
15. The front wings of the dragonfly are slightly longer than the rear wings. This helps with both speed and maneuverability.
16. Though many people fear them, dragonflies cause no harm to humans whatsoever. They are often curious toward humans and will fly around you for that reason, but they do not sting or bite.
17. Though dragonflies are essentially harmless to humans, there were many spooky legends about them in the past (some of which still remain). For example, people used to believe that sleeping outside put you at risk of having your eyes sewn shut by the dragonfly or "darning needle."
18. One of the most distinguishing features of dragonflies are their eyes. They have large, compound eyes with many facets or sides.
19. Because of their large, multifaceted eyes, the adult dragonfly can see nearly 360 degrees around it at all times.
20. Though you can't see them all with the naked eye, the compound eyes of the dragonfly can contain thousands of tiny lenses.
21. As far as insects go, dragonflies are among the fastest. Some of the faster species can fly upward of 30 miles per hour. Their four wings also allow them to move sideways, backward, to hover in place, etc. And they can do all of these movements quickly and accurately, which makes them well suited to eat other insects right out of the air.

The goal of this fact sheet is to help you enjoy the beauty of dragonflies when you encounter them in the wild (and in not-so-wild places like your own backyard). I hope these interesting facts have given you a newfound appreciation of the dragonfly.

The Dragonfly Life Cycle

A dragonfly has a life span of more than a year, but very little of that life is actually as an adult dragonfly. There are three stages of the dragonfly life cycle, the egg, the nymph, and the adult dragonfly. Most of the life cycle of a dragonfly is lived out in the nymph stage and you don’t see them at all, unless you are swimming underwater in a lake or pond with your eyes opened, of course.

The Egg Stage

A male and a female dragonfly will mate while they are flying in the air. After two dragonflies mate, the female dragonfly will lay her eggs on a plant in the water, or if she can’t find a suitable plant she will just drop them into the water.

The Nymph Stage

Once the dragonfly eggs hatch, the life cycle of a dragonfly larva begins as a nymph. A nymph looks like a little alien creature. It hasn’t grown its wings yet and has what looks like a crusty hump hanging onto its back. Dragonfly nymphs live in the water while they grow and develop into dragonflies. This portion of the dragonfly life cycle can take up to four years to complete, and if the nymph cycle is completed in the beginning of the wintertime, it will remain in the water until spring when it is warm enough to come out.

Dragonfly nymphs live in ponds or marshy areas because the waters are calmer than in a stream or river. Sometimes they can be found in the calmer backwaters of rivers, too. Dragonfly nymphs may eat smaller dragonfly nymphs as they develop.

The Adult Dragonfly Stage

Once the nymph is fully grown, and the weather is right, it will complete the metamorphosis into a dragonfly by crawling out of the water up the stem of a plant. The nymph will shed its skin onto the stem of the plant and will then be a young dragonfly. The skin that the nymph left behind is called the exuvia and you can find the exuvia still stuck to the stem for a long time after the dragonfly has left it.

Once the dragonfly leaves the exuvia it is a full grown dragonfly. The dragonfly will hunt for food and begin to look for a mate. Once the dragonfly finds a mate, the female will find a body of calm water that will be a good place to lay her eggs, and the life cycle of the dragonfly begins all over again. Adult dragonflies only live about two months.