Mantidae

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Mantidae is the largest family of the Mantodea order of insects. They are commonly known as praying mantis (or preying mantis). They are so named for their "prayer-like" stance. (The word mantis in Greek means prophet.) There are approximately 2,000 species world-wide; most are tropical or subtropical.

Many species are found in North America, three of them are most common: the European mantis (Mantis religiosa), the Chinese mantis (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis), and the Carolina mantis (Stagomantis carolina). Of these, only the last is native to the continent - the European and Chinese species were introduced around the 1900s as garden predators in an attempt to control pest populations.

Image:Mantis_ootheca.jpg|A mantis Ootheca Image:Mantis_wynaad.jpg|A mantis from the Western Ghats

Subfamilies

• Incertae - Fossils Only
• Orthoderinae
• Choeradodinae
• Liturgusinae
• Caliridinae
• Tarachodinae
• Vatinae
• Oligonychinae

Dead Leaf mantis, a remarkable example of camouflage

• Haaniinae
• Thespinae
• Deroplatinae
• Phyllotheliinae
• Oxyothespinae
• Amelinae
• Angelinae

Chinese mantis

• Mantinae
• Sibyllinae
• Compsothespinae
• Iridopteryginae
• Schizocephalinae
• Photininae
• Toxoderinae
• Incertae

See also

• Mantis shrimp
• Mantidfly
• Praying mantis kung fu

External links

• [Natures's Best Masked Flower Image]
• [North American mantids]

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