When I was a child, I cultivated land in the mountains near Taishan Mountain in Dalian, and often went up to the mountains to work. Although my family is a city dweller, because the food supply is not enough to eat, I often go up the mountain to dig up wild vegetables since I was a child, and follow my father to cultivate the land. Without these resources provided by nature, I am afraid I would not have survived the three years of hardship and hunger that lasted.
When people's lives are better and they can eat enough, they have strength in their bodies, and playing on the mountain has become a lot of fun for me. Activities such as catching grasshoppers, catching grasshoppers, and catching knowledge are fun every day. The meadows and trees on the mountain have brought me countless joys, and the praying mantises in the mountains have made me feel very interesting.
The size of the praying mantis is large and small, the small one finger is more than long, and the large one is about the length of the palm. The body of the praying mantis is streamlined, the whole body is turquoise, and some mantises are green in color with yellow. The forelimbs of the praying mantis resemble two large serrated knives with hooks, with a row of hard serrated teeth on top of them, and a climbing suction cup at the end of the large hook. The head of the praying mantis is small, out of proportion to the body, like a triangular fan. The mantis has two compound eyes on its head, which are large and bright, yellow-green. The praying mantis has antennae and a long neck that can rotate freely. Praying mantises have a strong chewing ability, and when they prey, they will quickly bite and eat. The mantis's front legs are sickle-shaped with sharp spines on them, and the front legs can be folded inside the legs and can be quickly extended to catch prey. As long as the prey is targeted by the praying mantis, it is generally difficult to escape. The praying mantis has wings, is fanned when it flies and stretches, and will converge its wings to cover the body when resting. The mantis's abdomen is hypertrophied and appears to be incongruous.
In summer evenings, where there are street lamps on the streets, praying mantises can often be seen. Praying mantises tend to light and like to fly where there is light. There are many places where praying mantises lay their eggs, on tree branches or walls, fences, stones, and crevices. In August and September every year, the eggs laid by praying mantises can often be seen on tree poles on the mountain or in the cracks in the walls of the street and on the stones by the river. The mantis's egg blocks can stick to objects, the shell is hard, and the egg is cut open, and there are honeycomb-like holes inside. The eggs of the praying mantis are brownish yellow, like plastic foam coagulation. Mantis egg blocks hatch small mantises in June and July of the following year. Usually, when we find a mantis egg, we will pry it off, or roast it over the fire and eat the eggs inside, or play with it and throw it away. The newly hatched baby mantises kill each other and eat each other, and this phenomenon of cannibalism may be a natural mechanism for the number of praying mantises to self-control.
After the mantis mates, the female mantis will eat the male mantis, and a small number of male mantis will escape the fate of being eaten. Female mantises eat male mantises tend to eat their heads first, sometimes half of them and then throw them away. We often see mantis carcasses with missing upper bodies, which are all treated by male mantises after mating. Female mantis eating male mantis is a natural behavior to maintain a population advantage, which is similar to knowing, except that males know that they die naturally after mating, and both are animal models dedicated to love.
Praying mantises are carnivorous insects, fierce in temperament, and dare to bite all kinds of insects. Flies, mosquito locusts, moths and butterflies, as well as their eggs and pupae, are all hunts for praying mantises. Even large insects such as cicadas and locusts are often preyed upon by praying mantises.
When I was a child reading books, I often saw the idiom of "praying mantis catching cicadas, yellow finches behind", and under the influence of this sentence, I deliberately went up the mountain to observe whether praying mantises could catch cicadas. However, I have never seen a praying mantis catching cicadas, only some cicada corpses that have been eaten half of their bodies by mantises. Because of this interest, I have seen mantises preying on other insects in the mountains.
A dragonfly rested on a branch of a tree on the slope of Longgang Mountain, its four wings flattened, reflecting a few points in the sun. Although the dragonfly has two compound eyes, it lies on the branches and sees no danger behind it, and comfortably basks in the sun on the branches. It is close to the Taishan Reservoir, and there is a small river under the hillside, where dragonflies often fly or rest in the trees.
A praying mantis spotted its prey, and it slowly climbed from another branch to the branch where the dragonfly rested. Although the body of the praying mantis is larger than that of the dragonfly, it moves on the branches of the tree, and the dragonfly cannot feel it. The praying mantis is green, and it moves under the leaves, and even people may not be able to see clearly, not to mention the dragonfly's compound eyes only look at the front and around the head.
The mantis quickly crawled behind the dragonfly, which lifted a sickle-shaped forefoot and quickly slashed at the dragonfly, which was cut off, and the wings moved, losing its life. The praying mantis pulls the body of the dragonfly to the mouthpiece and begins to bite. Soon, a dragonfly was eaten, and the broken dragonfly wings drifted to the ground with the wind. After eating the dragonflies, the praying mantis rests on the pole. Nature eats the weak and the strong, and the dragonflies face the hunting of praying mantises without any resistance.
A large black butterfly landed on an artemisia grass, the summer wind blew, the artemisia grass kept shaking, and the big butterfly swayed with the wind on the artemisia grass, as if enjoying the natural cradle, as if asleep. The big butterfly didn't know the danger was coming, and there was a praying mantis resting on this artemisia grass.
The praying mantis turned out to be lying head down on the artemisia grass pole, perhaps there were several dragonflies flying near the ground, preparing to land, and the praying mantis was going to wait for the rabbit to hunt. Unexpectedly, this big butterfly fell on the artemisia grass not far from the praying mantis, alarming the praying mantis that was looking at the dragonfly. The praying mantis turned around and quietly crawled above the artemisia grass. The black butterfly was still swaying with the wind on the artemisia grass, and did not feel anything at all.
The praying mantis soon approached the top of the artemisia grass, almost touching the large butterfly. Just as the artemisia was bending downwards, the mantis's upper body stood up, raised two large sickle-like forefoots, and quickly grabbed the butterfly. The butterfly's body is a little large, and when it is suddenly attacked, it opens its wings and flaps hard to escape. The mantis's hind feet cling to the artemisia stalk, keeping the body from falling. The two knife-shaped forefoots grasped the butterfly and never relaxed. The butterfly struggled for a moment before it stopped, and the praying mantis pulled the butterfly closer and began to bite. After a while, the wings of the butterfly fluttered in the wind, and the black butterfly was eventually eaten by the praying mantis.
Observing this, I realized that nature eats the weak and the insect and animal kingdoms, and this natural law is immutable.
I went to the artemisia grass and caught the ferocious praying mantis, and when I caught it, it tried to threaten me with two large scythes. In the face of powerful humanity, it quickly failed. The praying mantis was of no use to me, and after a detailed look at it, I put it on the artemisia grass. The praying mantis regained its freedom, and it spread its wings and quickly flew away.