Mantidae Sentence Examples

The Mantidae or " praying insects " have the prothorax elongate and the forelegs powerful and raptorial, while the large, broad head is prominent.

This is well exemplified by the leaf-insects (Phyllium) and stickinsects (Bactra), where the likeness to the models after which they are named is procryptic; and also by various species of tropical Mantidae which resemble flowers for the purpose of alluring insects within striking distance and perhaps also for concealing their identity from enemies.

Antmimicry has also been recorded in the case of the larva of one of the Indian species of Mantidae.

Finally the larva of one of the Bornean Mantidae, which is a floral simulator in its pupal and adult stages, closely resembles in its black and red coloration the larva of the stinking and warningly coloured bug Eulyes amoena.