blitzmantis
Well-known member
Apart from their camouflage (best shown with the orchid), what other features do mantids have that let them adapt and survive in the wild?
What makes Mantid's adapted to their environment?
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Morpheus uk
Well-known member
I know twig mantids can change to black after fires
i would say being able to eat a variety of foods. if an insect can only eat certain species of plant for example, they will be limited in where they can exist. but being able to eat most things of the right size is pretty useful.
and you mention camouflage, i reckon there are better examples of this like alot of twig, leaf and bark mantids. theres some pretty outlandish ones that maybe arent common (or at all available) in the hobby so arent as well known.
i guess the ability for ootheca of certain species to overwinter is pretty useful too, in areas where the winter would probably be too harsh to survive otherwise.
and you mention camouflage, i reckon there are better examples of this like alot of twig, leaf and bark mantids. theres some pretty outlandish ones that maybe arent common (or at all available) in the hobby so arent as well known.
i guess the ability for ootheca of certain species to overwinter is pretty useful too, in areas where the winter would probably be too harsh to survive otherwise.
The wind-like shaking (motion parallax) may also serve as a distance estimator. You can judge by the speed of objects passing by at which relative distance the are: slower objects are farther away than faster ones. It's like when you look out of the car window. Before a jump, mantids also sway from side to side. This also serves as a distance estimation when objects are farther away than the binocular vision would allow to discriminate for.
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Another answer to the question posed above is motionlessness. Ambush hunting is a good strategy for generalist predators. You are not perceived neither by potential prey nor by potential predators. There are mantids, though, which are not ambush hunters.
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Another answer to the question posed above is motionlessness. Ambush hunting is a good strategy for generalist predators. You are not perceived neither by potential prey nor by potential predators. There are mantids, though, which are not ambush hunters.
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Mantis oothecae alone show a variety of adaptations. Colder temperate species form large foamy masses that help eggs survive the winter, Acanthops hang theirs at the end of 'strings' to keep them safe from predation. Many mantids lay thin oothecae along stick so they are camouflaged. Gongylus oothecae have strange extensions that may keep the eggs cool in intense heat.
joossa
Well-known member
Defense mechanisms as well. The infamous defense poses! I have also read that in certain species, male mantids have receptors that can detect the frequency (it's a high pitched frequency) of a carnivorous bat's echolocation while flying. When detected, the male usually stops its flight path and immediately spirals down to the ground, confusing the bat and preventing it from catching the mantid.
Mate eating can also be seen as a survival adaptation that increases the female's fitness (ability to survive, reproduce, and produce progeny). There's little/no food around? Eat the male!
Mate eating can also be seen as a survival adaptation that increases the female's fitness (ability to survive, reproduce, and produce progeny). There's little/no food around? Eat the male!
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This isn't really as simple. The male's fitness is enhanced by pairing multiple times. There are different evolutionary contraints applying on the sexes. This topic is not strictly related to the question posed, although it cannot be separated completely from it.Mate eating can also be seen as a survival adaptation that increases the female's fitness (ability to survive, reproduce, and produce progeny). There's little/no food around? Eat the male!
The startling display doesn't help against any predator, but may be useful against some small reptiles and birds.
Hi
That means that the ability of the male's abdomen to continue mating while the head was eaten by the female is no real adaptation either?
Are there any studies with decapitationed males within mating cockroaches?
regards
That means that the ability of the male's abdomen to continue mating while the head was eaten by the female is no real adaptation either?
Are there any studies with decapitationed males within mating cockroaches?
regards
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OGIGA
Dead Leaf Mantis
The motion parallax thing is fascinating. I thought the motion was part of the "look at me, i'm just a leaf in a breeze." My understanding of the sexual cannibalism is thus: the copulatory inhibition is located in the head, off with the head and no more copulatory inhibition - which is very handy.
Something I find impressive are the mantid eyes. There are the compound eyes but the three tiny ones in the middle are somehow very important in regard to striking accuracy. I saw a study (can't recall, so I can't site) that collected data about striking accuracy when those three eyes are intact and when one or more are damaged. The accuracy of the strike drops significantly with the destruction of just one of those eyes.
The 3 tiny eyes are called ocellus, plural ocelli they are used to disinguish light and dark. I have noticed they are a lot more prominent in males than females.
I assume that occellus will see movement as a change between light/dark o visa versa and the compund eye thn takes over.
I assume that occellus will see movement as a change between light/dark o visa versa and the compund eye thn takes over.
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The role of the ocelli is rather badly known, usually they are associated with the circadian cycle or the perception of polarized light or so. Ocelli are always larger in well-flying taxa or sexes, so they must have something to do with orientation. There also is a muscle attached to the median ocellus whose function is completely unknown. I would like to know the exact citation of the study mentioned, it sounds interesting.
The copulatory-inhibition thing is one of the most famous mantid legends ever, if not the most famous one. This is one of the cases when causality was reversed: it was regarded as the a-priori reason for a successful copula, but instead it is an a-posteriori one. How this? Well, as I said before, every male tries to pair several times to enhance his fitness. A female enhances her fitness primarily by laying more eggs, and the amount of eggs directly depends on food intake. She can mate only once and regard all other males as food when food is scarce, which actually just is the case in the temperate zone fall. Or she can mate several times and enhance the genetic fitness of her offspring when food supply isn't a problem. This may be the reason why females of temperate species are more aggressive than tropical ones. They can lay just one or two ooths, so genetic diversity achieved by multiple pairing isn't an important point in face of food scarcity.
Males, on the other hand, try to mate several times, so an adaptation like letting his head to be bitten off isn't of any evolutionary value. Rather, it is the ultimate joker helping him to finish the copulation when everything else, say, his life and thus the opportunity to mate again, is lost. Everyone who breeds mantids knows that males can copulate several times and also do it if allowed. Of course, when he gets older, his reactions are slower and his courtship behavior is reduced, so he eventually is captured. But he had the possibility to mate several times instead of just once and this clearly is a stronger selective advantage. Of course not every male mates several times and some don't mate at all, but selection of this kind applies to population level. It enhances the individual chances. How often a particular individual mates at last depends on genetics and nutritional fitness.
The copulatory-inhibition thing is one of the most famous mantid legends ever, if not the most famous one. This is one of the cases when causality was reversed: it was regarded as the a-priori reason for a successful copula, but instead it is an a-posteriori one. How this? Well, as I said before, every male tries to pair several times to enhance his fitness. A female enhances her fitness primarily by laying more eggs, and the amount of eggs directly depends on food intake. She can mate only once and regard all other males as food when food is scarce, which actually just is the case in the temperate zone fall. Or she can mate several times and enhance the genetic fitness of her offspring when food supply isn't a problem. This may be the reason why females of temperate species are more aggressive than tropical ones. They can lay just one or two ooths, so genetic diversity achieved by multiple pairing isn't an important point in face of food scarcity.
Males, on the other hand, try to mate several times, so an adaptation like letting his head to be bitten off isn't of any evolutionary value. Rather, it is the ultimate joker helping him to finish the copulation when everything else, say, his life and thus the opportunity to mate again, is lost. Everyone who breeds mantids knows that males can copulate several times and also do it if allowed. Of course, when he gets older, his reactions are slower and his courtship behavior is reduced, so he eventually is captured. But he had the possibility to mate several times instead of just once and this clearly is a stronger selective advantage. Of course not every male mates several times and some don't mate at all, but selection of this kind applies to population level. It enhances the individual chances. How often a particular individual mates at last depends on genetics and nutritional fitness.
It seems any good legend is impossible to kill no matter how many times it's disproven.
(This guy lost his head during copulation, but who doesn't right?).
