European mantis
Mantis religiosa
— Where the name comes from
From the Greek mántis, “prophet, seer”: to the Greeks the motionless insect with its forelegs gathered was at prayer, and foretold things. The Latin religiosa only says it again. But those legs are not praying: they are already in the striking position.
— Facts
- Group
- Insects · Insecta
- Order
- Mantises
- Habitat
- Dry meadows, scrub, sunny waste ground
- Range
- Europe, Africa, Asia; introduced to North America
- Size
- 5–7.5 cm for the female
- Diet
- Carnivore — insects, occasionally small vertebrates
- Lifespan
- One year
— Characteristics
- 01
The raptorial forelegs snap shut in 50–70 milliseconds.
- 02
It turns its head 180°: the only insect that can look over its own shoulder.
- 03
Lays its eggs in a frothy ootheca that sets hard.
— What sets it apart
The mantis is the only insect with demonstrated stereoscopic vision. But it does not work like ours: it does not compare two still images, it compares the movement between the two eyes. In tests it proves blind to differences of detail and unerring on differences of motion. It sees depth only in what moves — which, for an ambush predator, is exactly everything that matters.
