Japanese giant mantis

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Japanese giant mantis
Japanese giant mantis (Tenodera aridifolia), female

Japanese giant mantis ( Tenodera aridifolia ), female

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Mantis (Mantodea)
Family : Mantidae
Subfamily : Mantinae
Genre : Tenodera
Type : Japanese giant mantis
Scientific name
Tenodera aridifolia
( Stoll , 1813)

The Japanese giant mantis ( Tenodera aridifolia ) is a fishing insect from the family of Mantidae .

features

male

With a body length of 78.4 mm to 127 mm as females and 50.8 mm to 83.5 mm as males, the Japanese giant mantis is one of the larger mantis. The basic color of the species is usually brown or, more rarely, green. Depending on the basic color, the species has a stripe on the flanks of the abdomen that is brown or green in contrast to the basic color . The body color can be adjusted depending on the habitat and changed during moulting. The body structure of the Japanese giant mantis is largely similar to that of the other species of the family Mantidae . It is particularly similar to the closely related Great Chinese Mantis ( Tenodera sinensis ) and, like these, is quite agile thanks to its long legs and comparatively narrow body. Male animals can also fly. To use a threatening gesture, the Japanese giant mantis has black eye patches on the inside of the tentacles and on the back wings, which are held against a potential attacker.

Occurrence

The Japanese giant mantis is widespread in Japan , China , India , Indonesia and South Korea , in addition it was introduced in the eastern part of the United States of America and Australia along with several other species of the genus Tenodera for biological pest control . In its range, the adaptable species inhabits grasslands and pastures. Agricultural areas are not avoided either. Most often, however, forest edges are inhabited near bodies of water, where the fishing insect lives especially on the plants kudzu , Chinese reed , the two-colored dwarf bamboo and the introduced goldenrod species Solidago altissima . In addition, the Japanese giant mantis is the most common fishing insect in temperate zones. The Japanese giant mantis shares many habitats with other species of the genus Tenodera , such as the great Chinese mantis or the somewhat smaller species Tenodera angustipennis .

Way of life

Female with a captured grasshopper

The Japanese giant mantis inhabits the foliage and branches of various plants in its habitat and is largely motionless there in favor of camouflage. If a prey animal is registered, the Japanese giant mantis sneaks up close and, as soon as it comes within range, quickly grabs it with its thorny tentacles. Due to the size of the fishing insects, small vertebrates such as smaller reptiles and amphibians as well as hummingbirds and mice can also be used as prey . Even well-fortified animals such as the Asian giant hornet and other terrors as well as conspecifics are not spurned.

Reproduction

Ootheca

The Japanese giant mantis reaches sexual maturity eight to ten days after the imaginal molt. The mating season usually runs from late summer to early autumn. Females attract males from a distance with pheromones , which the males can perceive up to a distance of 100 meters. At closer distance and visual range of the male, the female shows her willingness to mate by wagging her abdomen, which exposes her pheromone glands. As a rule, the male approaches the female either from the front or from the rear, performing courtship behavior, lifting the abdomen up and down and shaking the entire body. However, reversed scenarios have also been spotted. The female probably stroked the male's tentacles to get closer. The pairing takes several hours. The cannibalism during mating, which is typical of mating terror, is very pronounced in the Japanese giant mantis. Both sexes can theoretically reproduce multiple times. Two months after mating, unlike many other fishing horrors, the female usually lays only one ootheca , which can contain 50 to 600 eggs. In the warmer zones, the females can also produce multiple oothecae. The Japanese giant mantis, similar to the great Chinese mantis, is predominantly univoltine , but in contrast to its sister species, it can optimize its reproduction rate depending on the distribution area, so that several generations of the species can arise per year in warmer areas. In the more moderate climates with colder winters, the eggs overwinter in the ootheca. This does not apply to the warmer areas where the larvae can hatch six weeks after being laid. The young animals go through eight moults before they reach the adult stage. The life expectancy of the Japanese giant mantis is usually six to nine months, depending on the temperature and other conditions.

Systematics

The Japanese giant mantis was first described by Caspar Stoll in 1813 under the name Mantis aridifolia . The great Chinese mantis was also initially described as a subspecies of the Japanese giant mantis before it received an independent species status. In 1933, in addition to the subspecies T. aridifolia aridifolia of Max Beier subspecies addition T. aridifolia brevicollis described.

additional

The Japanese name for the species is Oo-Kamakiri (literally オ オ カ マ キ リ and translated "large fishing insect "). The introduction of the Japanese giant mantis to the northeastern parts of the United States along with other species of the genus was for pest control purposes. The adaptable species have now successfully established themselves there, with the Japanese giant mantis now the most common fishing insect in North Carolina . The effects of the neozoa , however, are highly controversial, as the rather large and not fussy fishing horrors of this genus can cause considerable damage to the native fauna. The Japanese giant mantis is a popular research element in the science of fishing horror because of its robustness and adaptability. Furthermore, despite its own species status , the closely related Great Chinese Mantis is still often listed as a subspecies of the Japanese giant mantis with the scientific synonym Tenodera aridifolia sinensis and the distribution areas in the overlapping zones would have to be checked more closely.

gallery

  • Hatching larvae

  • Cub

  • Head of a female

  • Top view of a female

  • Portrait of a female

  • Females in defensive stance

  • Pregnant female on a spider web

  • Female with a captured specimen of the fishing horror species Hierodula patellifera

  • Female eating a male

  • Lateral view of a male

  • Prepared male in size comparison

  • Male with a captured bee

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Report on the development as well as size and color variation of the Japanese giant mantis by Taku Iwasaki on dl.ndl.go.jp ( [1] Link)
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Description of the Japanese giant mantis on animaldiversity.org ( [2] Link)
  3. ↑ Description of the Japanese giant mantis on https://eol.org ( [3] )
  4. ↑ Systematics of the Japanese giant mantis on http://mantodea.speciesfile.org ( [4] Link)
  5. ↑ The Japanese giant mantis on the Japanese Wikipedia ( Link )
  6. ↑ Report on the Japanese giant mantis on sites.duke.edu ( [5] Link)
  7. ^ Robert A. Cannings: Recent range expansion of the Praying Mantis, Mantis religiosa Linnaeus (Mantodea: Mantidae), in British Columbia. In: J. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia. 104, 2007, p. 79. (online) (PDF; 508 kB)
  8. ↑ Description of the Japanese giant mantis on bugguide.net ( Link )

Web links

Commons : Japanese giant mantis  album with pictures, videos and audio files