African giant mantis
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African giant mantis ( Sphodromantis viridis ), female |
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| Sphodromantis viridis | ||||||||||||
| ( Forsskål , 1775) |
The African giant mantis or green praying mantis ( Sphodromantis viridis ) is a fishing insect belonging to the Mantidae family . It shares the latter trivial name with the somewhat smaller and genus related African praying mantis ( Sphodromantis gastrica ).
features
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The African giant mantis is one of the large mantids and is the largest species in the Mantidae family in Europe. Nevertheless, it is often confused with the European praying mantis because of its green color . Distinguishing features, however, are the white spot in the center of each forewing and the lack of a black-rimmed, yellow or white pithed spot at the base of the inside of the front hips .
The African giant mantis reaches a length of 10 centimeters. However, this only applies to females. The males are up to 8 centimeters long and are therefore usually smaller and narrower than the females. Further gender differences are the 8 segments on the abdomen of the males, which enable them to curve in the direction of the females when mating. The females only have 6 segments. Their wings are short and their ability to fly is limited to a few meters. The wings of the males are much longer and protrude beyond the abdomen. They give the males the better flight skills. In this way they can visit the females and fly on again after mating. Like various other mantis, the African giant mantis has a yellowish warning color on the inside of the tentacles as well as on the underside of the second pair of wings, which serve as threatening gestures.
Despite their species name viridis , which means "green" when translated from Latin, their color can range from light green to gray-brown. The colors are then reminiscent of fresh or withering leaves.
Similar species
Similar species can be found in the family Mantidae and especially in the genus Sphodromantis . Examples are the Ghana praying mantis ( Sphodromantis lineola ) and the African praying mantis ( Sphodromantis gastrica ). Other similar species are the Indian giant mantis ( Hierodula membranacea ) and removed the European praying mantis ( Mantis religiosa ).
distribution
The African giant mantis originally comes from tropical Africa south of the Sahara , but mostly inhabits West Africa and is represented in local populations along the Mediterranean in the north of its range . The species has been known from the Iberian Peninsula since the 19th century, but at that time its range was limited to Andalusia . However, climate change seems to be favoring its spread. It was increasingly found outside of the known distribution area, for example in Israel or Portugal. In some areas, the African giant mantis also seems to have been introduced by humans as a neozoon , such as the Balearic Islands .
Way of life and reproduction
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The African giant mantis lives well camouflaged in their habitat . It lives in shrubs or sits on grasses, where it is difficult to see because of its color and shape. Like all mantids, it is also a stalker. H. it stays still in order not to attract both prey and predators. Prey animals are grabbed with the tentacles as soon as they are within reach. The praying mantis' large eyes help assess the distance and size of the prey. So only live, moving animals are caught and eaten immediately afterwards. The African giant mantis catches all animals that it can overwhelm, even if they are larger or heavier than itself. However, their main food is other invertebrates. While the males mostly try to escape a predator by flying, the flightless females often react aggressively to an attacker and adopt a threatening posture. In the greatest need, defense is provided by the tentacles or the mandibles.
The African giant mantis is prone to cannibalism . The smaller males in particular are eaten by the larger females during mating. After mating, the female lays several ooths from which up to 300 offspring can hatch.
attitude
In the terrarium hobby, the African giant mantis is a popular pet due to its modesty and size and is available in stores worldwide. Together with other species of the genus, such as the Ghana praying mantis or the Indian giant mantis, which is also closely related, it is one of the fishing horrors that are most frequently kept.
Systematics
First describer Peter Forsskål first described the species as Gryllus viridis in 1775 . When Carl Stål described the genus Sphodromantis in 1871 , he also classified the African giant mantis in the same, so that it received its name, which is still valid today. Today the African praying mantis is the type species of the genus and has five subspecies with the following names, authors and years of description:
- Sphodromantis viridis barbara La Greca , 1967
- Sphodromantis viridis inornata Werner , 1923
- Sphodromantis viridis meridionalis La Greca , 1950
- Sphodromantis viridis simplex La Greca & Lombardo , 1987
- Sphodromantis viridis viridis Forskal , 1775
- ( Syn. = Sphodromantis viridis bimaculata Burmeister , 1838)
- (Syn. = Sphodromantis viridis cavibrachia Werner , 1915)
- (Syn. = Sphodromantis viridis gutatta Thunberg , 1815)
- (Syn. = Sphodromantis viridis vischeri Werner , 1933)
gallery
Top view of a female
Frontal view of a female
Lateral view of a female
Detail of the front body of a female
Females at night
Female with discarded oothecae
Threatening gesture of a female
Pregnant female
Top view of a male
Lateral view of a male
Males with spread forewings
Detail of the anterior body of a male, here with eyes adjusted to darker light conditions.
Detail of an upper wing of a male
Male at night
Several newly hatched larvae
Top view of a cub
Frontal view of a young animal
Lateral view of a young animal
Rear view of a cub
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literature
- Matthias Schneider: Insects in the terrarium. Praying mantises, stick insects & Co. Kosmos (Franckh-Kosmos), 1st edition, 2012, p. 39, ISBN 978-3440-12272-3 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ I. Bolivar: Catalogo sinóptico de los Ortópteros de la fauna ibérica. Annaes de Sciencias Naturaes, 4, pp. 105-232, 1897.
- ^ Sphodromantis viridis . Animal Info, Tiuli, Traveling in Israel, accessed January 19, 2017.
- ↑ Eduardo Marabuto, Ivo Rodrigues, Sérgio S. Henriques: Sphodromantis viridis (Forskal, 1775): New for Portugal and new records of the rare and small mantids Apteromantis aptera (Fuente, 1894) and Perlamantis allibertii Guérin-Méneville, 1843 in the country (Mantodea: Mantidae and Amorphoscelidae). Biodiversity Data Journal, 2, e1037, January 2014. doi : 10.3897 / BDJ.2.e1037
- ^ X. Canyelles, G. Alomar: Sobre la presència de Sphodromantis viridis (Forskal, 1775) (Dictyoptera, Mantoidea) a Mallorca. Bolletí de la Societat d'Historia Natural de les Balears, 49, pp. 83-88, 2006.
- ↑ Ute Mathis, Sabine Eschbach and Samuel Rossel: Functional binocular vision is not dependent on visual experience in the praying mantis. Visual Neuroscience , 9, 2, pp. 199-203, 1992
- ^ Margit Reitze and Wolfgang Nentwig: Comparative investigations into the feeding ecology of six Mantodea species. Oecologia, 86, 4, pp. 568-574, 1991.
- ↑ Recommended Species . The Care of Mantids, accessed January 19, 2017.
- ↑ Systematics of the African giant mantis on Mantodea Species File ( Link )
Web links
- http://www.terrarium-wissen.de/tiere/gottesanbeterinnen-anfaengerarten-portrait/ Husbandry reports on various mantids suitable for beginners