Consider-the-Lilies Web Gallery
Praying Mantis
Of all the fauna living in our garden, the most interesting to me is the Tyrannosaurus rex of this ecosystem, the Praying Mantis.
Its alien, not-of-this-world appearance makes it stand out among all the other legged-lilies I've come across.
Not only is this creature a bit scary looking, it lives up to its appearance; it is a predator par excellence in its little world.
Here is a bugs-eye view of what the Carolina Mantis looks like to its potential prey.
The derivation of the name Mantis goes back to ancient Greece. The Greeks saw the preying posture—little pun there!—as similar to that assumed by a prophet or seer while praying, and assigned the Greek word for "seer" to the insect.
But, as one entomologist observed, "once the etymology is known, the use of the species name Praying Mantis is a bit redundant." Perhaps, but it looks so devout, maybe a little redundancy is all right.
It looks to me like it is about to say "Take me to your leader!"
Assets
Stagmomantis carolina, which is the variety indigenous to the Shenandoah Valley and the eastern United States, is superbly designed to rule as the supreme predatory insect in our garden.
Let's see what assets this creature has been given that equip it to dominate a small niche in God's world.
First is its means of locomotion: the long, articulated outrigger legs.
They appear to be made for speed, and indeed are capable of propelling this hunter quickly across this holly bush to catch its prey. And, if threatened by a bird or a bat, its main predators, it can move at speed to a sanctuary.
But, most of the time, when hunting and stalking a prospective meal, it does not rely on these stilt-like appendages to move about rapidly.
Instead these fragile legs, with their delicate, sensitive "toes" serve as sensors to allow the Mantis to quietly feel its way across the surface of the field.
As it slowly advances towards its quarry, it carefully tests the next leaf for springiness before transferring any weight to that foot.
Even with close observation, one does not see the leaf move even a fraction of an inch: Very impressive!
Next in the toolkit of this amazing creature are its unique forelegs, which are held harmlessly at rest in its characteristic "praying" posture as it patiently inches across the bush toward its objective.
But, when the quarry is within reach, the seemingly devout posture is abandoned and the awesome raptorial claws lash out with lightning speed to capture the quarry.
Once it grabs its prey, the needle-sharp inner surface of the claws impale and trap the victim. Immediately, the Mantis hunter completes the capture with a rapid killing bite to the neck of the imprisoned prey.
It is very seldom that the targeted prey manages to escape from this almost-always fatal embrace.
Another asset that this creature possess is the ability to turn its head without moving its torso; it has a neck!
It can rotate its head
a full 90-degrees to either
side, which makes it unique in the insect world. (See both images, right.)
Thus while on the prowl, it can scan a wide area for a potential meal, without otherwise moving its body.
It is very much aware of being observed and will turn its head to track any intruder—me, this time!
Not only can this creature turn its head to scan for its next meal, while remaining still otherwise, it also has the ability to rotate its large compound eyes.
This female has pivoted her eyes upward when she sensed my presence.
With all these assets, combined with adaptive coloration—their color scheme can change with each moulting to match their hunting area—this predacious insect is well-equipped to be a most effective hunter throughout its life. (Another creature in the Gallery with this chameleon-like capability is the Crab Spider.)
Often the first meal of most of these creatures is a sibling; throughout most of their short lives they are completely devoted to hunting and eating just about any other critter that they can get into their fore claws; and then at the end of the season the mature females often devour their mates, sometimes before the honeymoon is over!
One entomologist described the Mantis as a "predacious long-bodied, large-eyed insect of warm regions..., which rests with forelimbs raised as in prayer." Certainly this raptorial insect is all of this, but I would add "cannibalistic," to this description! Whew!
Hunting
Let's take a look at how the Mantis puts all these assets together to consistently make a meal of any prey that it begins to track:
Here is a typical hunt that I observed one afternoon in a golden cedar bush in my front garden: The mantis is studying a grasshopper (arrow) perched on the other side of a cedar twig.
The poor grasshopper had no idea it was the subject of intense scrutiny, until the final move by the female mantis.
She took at least five minutes to slowly advance three-inches across this bush.
(The Mantidae are a very large family, containing over 2,000 species, with varieties in the "tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate areas of the world."
Although a number Mantis varieties also rely on the stealthy approach used by Stagmomantis carolina to accomplish their ambush, others in South America take their camouflage one step further so that the prey will come to them!
In an incredible transformation, these tropical Mantids change their form so much as to perfectly mimic the shape of plants and flowers, for example a pure white orchid, in one instance. The National Geographic Channel recently presented a documentary program in which the amazing appearance of Mantids from around the world was displayed. I highly recommend seeing it, if you have a chance.)
Instead of hunting their quarry by stealth, these tropical Mantidae rely on ambush, waiting patiently for a hungry beetle, butterfly—even a hummingbird (!)—to come browsing the "orchid blossoms" for a sip of nectar—their last!)
Here she has captured the grasshopper and prepares to devour it on the spot.
As noted, she immediately bites its neck as she squeezes it in her serrated fore-claws; it is clear that this 'hopper is not going to escape.
The meal always begins from the head downward; it certainly cuts short any further struggle!
After finishing her meal, she then completes a careful toilette of her upper body; like a cat, she washes and cleans her forelegs and face, before returning to her search for more prey.
Life Cycle
In the Shenandoah Valley, Stagmomantis carolina hatchlings begin their lives in mid-May, and will complete their life-cycle—if not cut short by a family member or some other predator!—in late September.
Life for the Mantid begins with the hatching out of a brood in an egg laid down the previous autumn.
Although they hatch en masse, the siblings rapidly disperse—with good reason since those who tarry in the open may find themselves serving as the first meal of a brother or sister!
This creature is a perfect, miniature replica of its parents in appearance, and also in habit: It is already a deadly hunter; it wastes no time in beginning to prowl through the leaf litter for some tiny, hatchling-size prey.
(We once hatched a Mantis egg in a green-room attached to our home, thinking that it would be good to have a resident mob of bug assassins to keep the insect pests off our plants in this closed environment.
Starting off with a small crowd of hatchlings from an egg, inside of just a few days we were down to a handful, and finally we could find only two, which stayed away from each other on opposite sides of the room.
The insects were taken care of, but eventually both our resident hunters disappeared, perhaps injuring or killing off one another. So, yes, the hatchlings disperse with good reason!)
Throughout the summer, seemingly around the clock, the maturing Mantids are on the hunt for food.
As they grow their exoskeleton becomes too small.
To keep growing the Mantid must shed its outer coat as often as seven or eight times to accommodate its enlarged body.
Not surprisingly, they hide until the new outer layer has hardened. So a goal for next season is find a molting Mantid. Watch this space!
In early October in Virginia, their lives coming to an end, these solitary hunters seek out a mate.
(Isn't it interesting that the color has changed for both of these specimens from the delicate green of early summer to the autumnal brown of dried leaves.)
As is often the case for six-legged lilies, the adult male Mantis is smaller than the female.
(Other creatures in the Gallery that have this characteristic—sexual dimorphism—are the Crab Spider and the Common Garden Spider.)
Within a few days the female lays this frothy materiel containing the fertilized eggs.
The sticky, foamy mass adheres to a twig and quickly solidifies into a hard protective shell.
Called an ootheca , it will protect the next generation of this miniature Tyrannosaurus rex until the warmer temperatures of mid-May return to this area.
Then the hatchlings chew their way out—and the Gracious cycle continues.
As He said: "Consider the lilies..."
Go to the Main Directory to consider more lilies of the field.