European mantis

Praying mantis Mantis religiosa
Adult female Lisbon, Portugal
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Mantodea
Family:	Mantidae
Subfamily:	Mantinae
Tribe:	Mantini
Genus:	Mantis
Species:	M. religiosa
Binomial name
Mantis religiosa (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
See Text

Mantis religiosa, with the common name praying mantis, and outside Europe the European mantis, is an insect in the family Mantidae. It is one of the most well-known and widespread species of the order Mantodea, the Mantis.

It is an example of a common name for a single insect species becoming used for a larger group of related species. "Mantis" now refers to the insect order Mantodea, and the other families, genera, and species within it. Other examples are "hornet" and "wasp."

Range

Mantis religiosa is native to Europe, Asia, and Africa. It was introduced to North America in 1899 on a shipment of nursery plants from southern Europe. Now it is found from the Northeastern United States to the Pacific Northwest, and across Canada.

Despite being an introduced species, it is the official state insect of Connecticut.

File:Mantis religiosa Fore Coxa Marking.JPG

Mantis religiosa, female with indicative marking (black spot) on fore coxa

Description

The European mantis is usually 5–7.5 cm (2–3 inches) in length, and has shades of bright green to tan. It can be distinguished easily by a black-ringed spot beneath the fore coxae.

Subspecies

• Mantis religiosa beybienkoi found in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Mongolia and West Siberia, Primorsky Krai (Russian Far East)
• Mantis religiosa caucasica found in Stavropol
• Mantis religiosa eichleri found in Ethiopia, Mauritania, Niokolo-Koba, Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Congo, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Zambia and Anatolia
• Mantis religiosa inornata found in India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan
  • syn. Mantis religiosa akbari (Soomro et al., 2001)
  • syn. Mantis inornata (Werner, 1930)
• Mantis religiosa langoalata found in Uzbekistan
• Mantis religiosa latinota found in Kazakhstan
• Mantis religiosa macedonica found in Macedonia
• Mantis religiosa major found in Mombasa (Kenya)
• Mantis religiosa polonica found in Poland, Russia
• Mantis religiosa religiosa found in Africa, North America: Canada, United States, Europe, Asia: Nepal, but not in South America or Australia
  • syn.Mantis religiosa maroccana (Thunberg, 1815)
  • syn.Mantis religiosa radiata (Fischer-Waldheim, 1846)
  • syn.Mantis religiosa sancta (Fabricius, 1787)
• Mantis religiosa siedleckii found in Southeast Asia: Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Java, Sulawesi
• Mantis religiosa sinica found in China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam

Additional images

• 

  Mating pair of Mantis religiosa, Lower Austria

• 

  Ootheca Sardinia, Italy

• Mantis religiosa (AF) left 01.jpg

  Adult male Mantis religiosa in Saône-et-Loire (71, France) in September, 2008

• Mantidae - Mantis religiosa-3.JPG

  Brown adult male Mantis religiosa 2008 October, Cerreto Ratti, Alessandria

• Mantis religiosa2.jpg

  Mantis religiosa nymph, France

• 

  Adult male Mantis religiosa

• European-mantis-eats-grasshopper.JPG

  Brown adult female Mantis religiosa

• Mantis religiosa pg.jpg

  Green adult female Mantis religiosa, France

• Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa religiosa) 07.jpg

  Adult Mantis religiosa religiosa in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

• 

  Ootheca in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

• 

  Damaged ootheca in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

External links

Data related to Mantis religiosa at Wikispecies

• Photographs of European Mantis (Mantis religiosa)
• A European Mantis feeding on a variety of insects

• CT.gov: The State Insect; retrieved on August 09, 2010
• Mantodea (Insecta) of Nepal: an annotated checklist By Reinhard Ehrmann, Karlsruhe & Matthias Borer, Basel
• Mantodea.SpeciesFile.org Page Mantis religiosa major Gerstaecker, 1873: Specimen records
• http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=30736&hl=%2Bmantis+%2Breligiosa
• ko:항라사마귀
• es:Mantis religiosa