Except polar regions, they are widely distributed all over the world, especially in tropical regions. There are more than 2000 known species in the world. About 147 species are known in China. Including China big knife mantis, narrow-winged big knife mantis, big knife mantis, brown static mantis, thin-winged mantis and green static mantis, mantis is an important natural enemy of agricultural pests.
Mantis is a large insect, generally 55 to 105 mm long. African mantis is the largest in the world, with a streamlined body, mainly green and brown, and various spots on it; The iconic feature is that there are two "broadswords", namely forelimbs, with a row of hard serrations, and a climbing sucker at the end of the broadsword hook. The head is fan-shaped and smaller; The compound eye is prominent, large and translucent, mainly yellow-green, black under the night light, monocular, with three points between the eyes, namely monocular; The antenna is slender; The neck can rotate 180 degrees; Chew the mouthparts, and the upper jaw is strong. The leg joints and tibial joints of the forefoot are prickly, and the tibial joints are sickle-shaped and often fold to the leg joints to form the forefoot that can catch prey; The front wing is soft, covering the whole body, the rear wing is thinner than the front wing, the edge is transparent, the middle is radial purple-red, and it is fanned out, and it meets the front wing at rest; Abdominal hypertrophy. The forefoot is sharp and developed, good at grasping the ground, and the middle and rear feet are suitable for walking, but sometimes the forefoot is also used to keep balance and develop abnormally.
Mantis's life cycle is completed within one year, and it goes through three stages of development: egg, nymph and adult, so it belongs to incomplete metamorphosis. Nymphs molt for 7~ 1 1 time and reach the adult stage after 8~ 12 years. The increase or decrease of age is influenced by the environment and the amount of food.
1. Oviposition period: Every year in mid-July, most species enter the adult stage one after another, and mate with each other in late August. Female insects choose branches or walls, fences, stones, crevices and other places to lay eggs. When laying eggs, the left accessory gland secretes foamy protein substance at the opening of reproductive cavity, and the right accessory gland secretes diphenol, so that the secreted protein substance solidifies into a hard shell to cover the egg mass and form an egg sheath. The number of egg sheaths, the size of egg sheaths and the number of eggs in the egg sheaths of a female locust vary with different species. Generally, it can produce 1~4 egg sheaths. It takes 2-4 hours to complete an egg sheath, and there are 40-300 eggs in an egg sheath. The primary egg sheath is white or milky white and soft. After 5~ 10 hour, it will turn khaki or tawny, and some will turn dark brown. What is produced on the mulberry branches is called the ootheca mantidis. Because the size, length, width, roundness and color of the egg sheath are different, there are folk common names such as Yi hat, wild fox snot and urine-stopping dog. All kinds of mantis use egg sheaths to protect their eggs from the cold winter. At the beginning of June of the following year, the overwintering eggs began to hatch, so there was a saying that "a mantis was born in midsummer", which lasted until the beginning of July. The incubation time of eggs is not only related to the temperature and humidity of the year, but also related to the intensity or length of light received by the spawning site.
2. nymph stage. After the embryo develops into a nymph in the sheath, the egg rises to the adult to lay eggs with the help of the peristalsis of the body and the swelling force of the egg, and breaks away from the egg membrane from the hatching place left when the sheath is made. With the help of the colloidal silk secreted on the tenth web, the egg shell and the insect body are suspended and adhered, and sometimes they can be pulled into a long string of more than 10. This is a natural phenomenon of individuals who hatch early, that is, they grasp the surrounding objects with their feet and use the emblem wind. The hatching time of eggs generally starts at 4 am and reaches its peak at 8-9 am (China Mantis); However, the hatching peak of mantis is around 18 pm; The peak time of mummification is 9~ 12. 1~2-year-old worms have strong autophagy ability, and the survival rate is generally only 10%~20% in natural environment. This cannibalism may be the interspecific mechanism of mantis population control in a certain number. This interspecific mechanism is related to the hunger tolerance of young nymphs, because the first and second instar nymphs die in 4-5 days when they are completely deprived of food, and the later nymphs can only maintain the life span of 1 1~ 18 days when they are deprived of food. Nymphs are similar to adults.
3. Adult stage: July ~1October is the successive occurrence stage of adults. Generally, male adults mature more than 10 days earlier than female adults, and they can mate in 10~ 15 days after emergence. The mating time is 2~4 hours, and the pre-mating period is the peak of mantis feeding. When food is scarce, females attack males and are eaten as prey, which is the so-called "wife eating husband" phenomenon. This behavior in life can be explained by the fact that the male hypopharyngeal ganglion can secrete a hormone to promote its lateral movement and the holding movement of the external genitalia of the abdomen. Therefore, female hunters often eat their heads first, which can destroy the male's hypopharyngeal ganglion and facilitate the successful contact between the two sides. In addition, some people think that because the male matures early, the female sex organs are not yet mature, which is a manifestation of unmarried resistance that does not accept mating. Others believe that females eat males to. From the above explanation, it can be seen that around the relationship between marriage proposal, mating and nutrition, it is a natural behavior for females to eat males to maintain population superiority. In this process, the female bears the main responsibility of reproduction.
4. Diet: Mantis is a terrestrial predator (carnivorous), and all small species of insects can be preyed by Mantis, especially the eggs, larvae, naked pupae and adults of flies, mosquitoes and butterflies are suitable prey. Even large insects like cicadas and migratory locusts are their prey.
1. Imitate a flower. There is a kind of mantis in the tropics. Its front legs are petal-shaped and its body color is purple and white. It is hidden in the leaves and looks like a purple-white orchid at first glance. There is a kind of flower mantis in Malaysia, which is pink and looks like a blooming flower. It attracts butterflies to collect honey and is fooled.
2. Imitate into leaves. Other mantis grow leaves and protrusions on the chest, abdomen, tibiofibular joints and lying position, imitating leaves, branches and tree scars to confuse insects.
3. Imitate into water drops. There is a kind of mantis in tropical desert area. Its body is green, and its head has a flat protrusion, which is smooth and bright. It curled up in the grass. In the sun, the protrusion on its head is like a drop of crystal dew, attracting insects from arid areas to get water and being arrested.
4. quasi-threatening prey. French biologists saw a mantis meet a big grey locust. When the mantis saw the locust, it immediately spread its wings and shook it to both sides. The hind wings stand upright like a sailboat, and the upper end of the side is curved, making the sound of poisonous snakes spraying. Put the whole body weight on the hind four feet, stand upright and keep your eyes on the locusts. When the grasshopper moved a little, mantis's head turned around at once. The grasshopper was frightened by this gesture, and slowly fell to the ground, without running away, and even moved the mantis. When it moved to reach the mantis, the mantis swooped down on it, and the grasshopper became its food without resistance.