Common name is Aunt Sheep.
Do you know who the insect world is known as a killing machine? It has an alien face, it knows your every move, and once it catches you, it doesn't mind eating you alive. This is a praying mantis, one of nature's deadliest insects.
As you explore the power of this legendary hunter, focus. The praying mantis is a long, slender, green or brown insect with a small, triangular head, and it is easy to think of the praying mantis as a leaf or stick worm. But the praying mantis is a deadly carnivore, and nature spares no effort to make it a ruthless hunter. Its name comes from its signature hunting stance.
The praying mantis stands with its four hind and middle legs, folding its two front legs as if praying for it, but it is not, its front legs are covered with thorns that can take prey in less than 1/10th of a second. Praying mantis can prey on birds, frogs, and guppies, and even garden snakes cannot bypass and escape their deadly control.
This insect can adjust the speed of attack to suit the size and movement of its prey. It waits for the exact moment to stretch out its arms and grab the victim. Praying mantis usually pierce the head of their prey and eat the brain first. I think it may be hungry for knowledge. Its two eyes detect the movement and change of light, unlike most other insects.
With the mantis's secondary eyes facing forward, this insect does not need peripheral vision because it can turn its head 180 degrees, something that no insect can do. It can also rotate the body 2.5 times in one second. It is especially likely to do so in the air when it jumps twice the distance of its body. Female praying mantis are larger, stronger and hungrier than male praying mantises.
In about 28% of mating, females bite off the male's head while mating with the male's belly and eat it for energy. Eating the male also provides essential amino acids and allows it to produce twice as many eggs. As the male praying mantis's inhibitory brain receptors disappear, it may mate longer and deposit more sperm. But sometimes things aren't that complicated.
A female praying mantis will bite off her partner's head, probably simply because it's too annoying.
So what can stop this killing machine? With good luck, frogs, birds, and some lizards will eat some praying mantises, but these insects are not easy to catch. Their flat bodies have little shadow. Their color, which allows them to blend perfectly with grass and other leaves. They rock back and forth to match the movement of the surrounding leaves.
If you succeed in spotting a praying mantis, it will spread its wings and fully extend its legs to look as large as possible. When all else fails, this brave insect will lift.
