What are the spikes at the end of the abdomen for?

[ladyarcana55]

Hi all! I know it's a weird question but I am curious.

My husband was handling Bella, (my mantis), and he noticed that at the very end of the abdomen were two small spikes. He asked me what they were for and I honestly don't know. But since he asked he got me thinking and it got me really curious.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Velve]

Those are the Cerci. They can serve insects as sensory organs, or in the case of earwigs also as weapons. Dragonflies use them to grab females while mating.

For mantids they seem to be more like evolutionary leftovers without much of a function. Roaches do use them as sensory organs, especially to detect wind movement, so perhaps they are still useful to some degree for mantids, though I can't find sources confirming that.

On a side note: Amorphoscelis got enlargened Cerci that look like little feathers. The way they wiggle their abdomen around is pretty cute:

 

[ladyarcana55]

Thank you so much Velvi! At first I thought the male uses them to help with mating but I wasn't entirely sure.

And you're right, that is really cute!

 

[Mantis Lady]

I was wondering that myself too what the use of those "spikes" are.

The bark mantis looks like a little dragon. His abdomen looks like a tail how he is moving it.

 

[Predatorhousepet]

Oh wow, that mantis is amazing. He does look like a little dragon, specifically a Chinese dragon.