If every praying mantis had a clematis in its body, the praying mantis would not be far from extinction. Therefore, it is natural that the praying mantis has clematis in its body. However, as one of the main hosts of clematis, the probability of mantises having clematis in their bodies is slightly greater. So, how do clematis get into the mantis? What happens if the clematis leaves the praying mantis? Let's explore these interesting questions together.
Where is the clematis "sacred"? How does it get into the stomach of a praying mantis? Clematis, as the name suggests, is a worm that looks like a clematis, and many small partners who have lived in the countryside have definitely seen it, but, at the time, those who did not know thought that the praying mantis had eaten a thin wire, in fact, it was a clematis. Clematis is a nematodes, there are two major groups of existing clematis, one is the clematis living in fresh and moist soils, the other is the swimming nematodes living in the ocean, the suborder Clematis and the suborder of nematodes together make up the order of clematis.
And our common clematis are animals under the suborder Clematis. Clematis is an animal that lives on parasitism, and although it is said to be parasitic, it is not completely parasitic. Why? First of all, the growth and development of clematis is divided into four stages, namely: eggs, larvae, juveniles and adults, usually, in the egg and larval stages, clematis are mostly stuck in the water, while the two stages of juvenile and adult insects grow in the host.
How do clematis get into the mantis? Clematis adult worm, body growth are more than 40 cm, individual large individual body length can even exceed 1 meter, although the adult clematis is relatively long, but, in the egg and larval form, it is very small, take the egg for example, the clematis egg is only a few millimeters large, almost with the naked eye is difficult to find, and the larval stage, the clematis is also like a thin hair.
It is these two stages of clematis that are not easy to find, which makes it possible for them to find a host. As a carnivorous insect, the praying mantis has two possibilities for being invaded by clematis. The first is to drink water. As an animal, the praying mantis also needs to drink water, and once the praying mantis drinks water with clematis eggs (which are difficult for larvae), these eggs will grow and develop in the body of the praying mantis.
The second is eating. Mantis is a carnivorous insect, its main prey is locusts, ants, butterflies and other insects, and locusts are in addition to mantises, the second largest host of clematis, once the mantis eats the locusts with clematis eggs in the body, then it may be infected. What happens to mantises infected with clematis? As we said above, praying mantises enter their bodies by drinking water and eating clematis eggs.
When the eggs of the clematis enter the body of the praying mantis, the humid environment and sufficient nutrition will make the eggs quickly enter the larval stage, starting from the larval stage, the clematis begins to eat the nutrients inside the mantis, which is like the mantis eating into the stomach, giving priority to the clematis. At this time, because the clematis is relatively small, there is nothing abnormal about the praying mantis. With plenty of food, the larvae of clematis soon develop to the juvenile stage and become adults. When the clematis becomes an adult in the mantis, the mantis's shell loses its effect.
At this time, the clematis will control the mantis to come to the vicinity of the water, about the means of driving, is due to the light orientation of the clematis, because the place where there is water during the day will reflect the sunlight, it is particularly bright, and the clematis is by virtue of this through the squirming of the body to control the body of the mantis to come to the water. When the praying mantis reaches the water, it is also the day when the praying mantis opens its stomach and breaks its belly. The clematis burrowed out of the mantis's stomach, leaving behind a mantis whose stomach had already been hollowed out, and then the mantis would undoubtedly die. Clematis enter the water, look for the opposite sex, mate again, and lay eggs, while the eggs drift with the flow, looking for the next host.
For parasitic praying mantises, once the clematis leaves the body of the mantis, it proves that the clematis has become an adult, and the praying mantis is also "hollowed out", so the mantis invaded by the clematis has only one way to die. Of course, clematis are not only a host for praying mantises, such as beetles, grasshoppers, crickets and other insects that often appear near the water to drink water are the hosts of clematis.