European praying mantis

European praying mantis
European praying mantis ( Mantis religiosa ), female
Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta) Order : Mantis (Mantodea) Family : Mantidae Subfamily : Mantinae Genre : Mantis Type : European praying mantis
Scientific name
Mantis religiosa
( Linnaeus , 1758)

The European mantis ( Mantis religiosa ), also called Common mantis or just as a praying mantis called, is the only occurring in Central Europe representative of the order of the Mantis (Mantodea) and counts within this order to the family of Mantidae . In Germany, it is classified in category 3 (“endangered”) in the Red List of Geradflügler ( Red List ) and enjoys special protection according to the provisions of the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG) in conjunction with the Federal Species Protection Ordinance (BArtSchV). Therefore it may u. a. neither caught nor held. The European praying mantis was named Insect of the Year 2017.

features

male

Females can be up to 75 mm long, the males are significantly smaller and reach a length of up to 60 mm. The basic color ranges from pale green to brown, on former burn areas you can even come across almost black individuals (fire melanism ). At the base of the inside of the front hips there is a black, often white pithed point, which is shown as an eye-like drawing in the defensive position ( mimicry ). The different color variants arise after the individual moults as an adaptation to the environment.

The elongated pronotum and the large, triangular, very mobile head are striking. While the two rear pairs of legs are designed as striding legs, the front legs are transformed into catch legs. The femur and tibia are studded with thorns to hold the prey in place.

Between the compound eyes there are three ocelles , which are more clearly developed in the male and can be used as a feature to differentiate between the sexes.

Similar species

The African giant mantis ( Sphodromantis viridis ) is not infrequently confused with the European praying mantis in southern Europe.

The European praying mantis is similar to other species of the subfamily Mantinae . One example is the African giant mantis ( Sphodromantis viridis ), which is also represented in parts of southern Europe and has a similar physique and color pattern. The African giant praying mantis differs from the European praying mantis, apart from the shape of the head, in particular because of the larger final size of 10 centimeters. In addition, the colors of the threatening gestures of both species differ, for example the African praying mantis, unlike the European praying mantis, has a yellow coloration for this purpose, which takes up most of the inside of the femora and tibia of the tentacles.

Way of life

pairing

In the Mediterranean area the praying mantis inhabits many different habitats, in Central Europe, however, it is restricted to distinct heat islands. The connection to warm areas is due to the need for prey for the larvae in spring, whereas the eggs in steppe areas can also survive winter with very low temperatures below zero (lethal temperature: −43 ° C).

The approximately 6 mm long larvae hatch in May / June and go through five to six larval stages in some populations, but six to seven larval stages in others (the lower number applies to males, the higher number applies to female individuals). The first adults (adults) appear towards the end of July / beginning of August. The animals reach sexual maturity about 14 days after the imaginal molt. As with other species of mating terror , the female of Mantis religiosa occasionally eats the male before, during or after mating. This has been confirmed, among other things, by field studies. While the males of some mantode species perform a pronounced courtship dance in order not to be viewed as prey by the female, such behavior has not yet been determined in mantis religiosa .

Ootheca of a European praying mantis in which the eggs were laid

A few days after mating, the females proceed to lay their eggs. The eggs are not deposited individually but always in groups in a so-called ootheca ; This is a clutch in a rapidly hardening foam mass that usually contains 100–200 eggs. In autumn the adult animals perish while the eggs with the embryos overwinter in the oothecae, which are excellently isolated by their spongy protective cover.

distribution

Mantis religiosa in the Aristotle Park in Stagira

The species originally comes from Africa , but in the Old World it spread over the entire Mediterranean area and large parts of Asia east to Japan and the great Sunda Islands. In a north-south direction, their distribution area extends from southern western Siberia to the Cape of Good Hope . It is now also represented in the New World , namely in North America , namely in large parts of the eastern USA and southern Canada. It is absent - despite some statements to the contrary in the literature - in South America and Australia.

The northernmost occurrences exceed the 54th degree of latitude east of the Ural Mountains in southern Western Siberia near Chelyabinsk , 55th degree near Omsk and 53rd degree north west of the Urals in Eastern Europe Exclave Berlin-Schöneberg (52.48N, 13.37E) - only up to the 51st degree of latitude (south-eastern Poland: Lublin plateau ). While Mantis religiosa occurs almost everywhere in the northern hemisphere south of the 46th parallel (46 ° N. Br.) In suitable locations, north of this line it is only found sporadically in climatically favored areas.

Distribution in Germany

Male animal flown to an apartment in Rhineland-Palatinate in August 2019. Below in the picture a leg of a housefly that has just been eaten . The animal was released after the report was found with a photo.

Brown male in Rhineland-Palatinate on a house wall

In Germany, the distribution and documentation of finds is as follows: In Hesse , the species was first found in Frankfurt in 1756, but could only be documented twice in the 20th century and was then considered to be extinct. In the meantime, however, it has been proven here again, although there was no evidence of oothecae and thus the reference to reproduction. Find reports are known from Bavaria , but these are highly unlikely and dubious. In Rhineland-Palatinate , the occurrence is considered secure and has been documented for years. Although there are regular reports of finds from the Saarland , these were apparently animals that occasionally fly in from Lorraine , so that the species was not considered indigenous here. Baden-Württemberg , especially southern Baden , is the main distribution area of ​​the species in Germany. The species is particularly common from the Kaiserstuhl or Freiburg and the surrounding area, the Upper Rhine Plain south of Freiburg to Basel and in the Glottertal . An island occurrence in the urban area of Berlin-Schöneberg has also been known since 1998 , the individuals of which reproduce successfully every year. The numerous more recent finds show that Mantis religiosa has significantly increased its range in Central Europe since the beginning of the 1990s and that it continues to spread gradually.

A three-year study (2011–2014) by the University of Mainz showed that two stable populations have now established themselves in Germany. In the west in the federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Saarland and in the east in Berlin (see above), Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. The western population comes mainly from France, while the eastern population immigrated from the Czech Republic and Central Europe, probably via the Elbe valley.

Import into North America

Another fishing insect introduced into North America is the great Chinese mantis ( Tenodera sinensis ).

The North American mantis species Stagmomantis carolina , along with the other introduced species, could be displaced by the European praying mantis.

In North America, the European praying mantis was introduced along with other mantis such as the great Chinese mantis ( Tenodera sinensis ) for biological pest control . Like the other species, it was able to establish itself successfully there and A. Nowadays also known as the state insect of the US state Connecticut . As with the other imported fishing rodents, the artificial importation of the European praying mantis is controversial in North America, as the usefulness of fishing rodents for pest control has been questioned. All introduced fishing horrors, including the European praying mantis, are also comparatively large and powerfully built fishing horrors, which are usually superior to the fishing horrors native to North America and can also displace them. A decline in the North American fishing insect Stagmomantis carolina, for example, is already feared.

Systematics and synonyms

Carl von Linné described the species as Gryllus (Mantis) religiosus as early as 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae, which was the basis of the zoological nomenclature . From around 1825 the name Mantis , chosen by Linnaeus as a subgenus, also established itself as a generic name. In 1873 Carl Eduard Adolph Gerstäcker described a particularly large form from East Africa as Mantis religiosa var. Major , which was later recognized as the first subspecies . Three variants had already been described previously, but they all turned out to be identical to the nominate form and are assigned as synonyms . It was not until 1930, and especially in the 1960s and 1970s, that further descriptions of the twelve subspecies were made. This results in the following systematic situation:

• Mantis religiosa beybienkoi Bazyluk , 1960
• Mantis religiosa caucasica Lindt , 1974
• Mantis religiosa eichleri Bazyluk , 1960
• Mantis religiosa inornata Werner , 1930
• Mantis religiosa langoalata Lindt , 1974
• Mantis religiosa latinota Lindt , 1974
• Mantis religiosa macedonica Karaman , 1961
• Mantis religiosa major Gerstaecker , 1873
• Mantis religiosa polonica Bazyluk , 1960
• Mantis religiosa religiosa ( Linnaeus , 1758)

( Syn. = Mantis religiosa maroccana Thunberg , 1815)

(Syn. = Mantis religiosa radiata Fischer-Waldheim , 1846)

(Syn. = Mantis religiosa sancta Fabricius , 1787)

• Mantis religiosa siedleckii Bazyluk , 1960
• Mantis religiosa sinica Bazyluk , 1960

Dialect names are, for example, the Leshanl in the thermal region in Lower Austria, where the Neuburger grape variety , especially in Pfaffstätten, bears this name. In South Tyrol the animal is called maring gel .

gallery

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  Detail view of a female

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  Frontal view of a female

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  Bottom view of a female

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  Brown female

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  Yellow female

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  Female eating a male

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  Head of a female

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  Females in defensive stance

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  Female eating a grasshopper

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  Female producing an ootheca

• Play media file

  Capture of prey & ingestion of food in a female

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  Brown male

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  Detail of a yellow male

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  larva

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  Green cub

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  Yellow cub

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  Brown cub

literature

• P. Detzel & R. Ehrmann: Mantis religiosa LINNAEUS, 1758 - praying mantis. In: P. Detzel (ed.): Die Heuschrecken Baden-Württemberg E. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1998, pp. 181–187
• Jean-Henri Fabre : The Obvious Secret. From the life's work of the entomologist, first: around 1900. Again: Diogenes, Zurich 1989 ISBN 3-257-21784-6 pp. 211-278
• Thomas Schestag: Mantis relics. Blanchot , Fabre, Paul Celan , Urs Engeler, Basel 1998 ISBN 3-905591-06-5 (about Blanchot: Thomas the Dark ; Celan: Lichtzwang (with some poems from it), among others, e.g. Carl Schmitt , Schleiermacher , Kafka , Plato & Walter Benjamin )
• Hans Przibram : The life story of the praying mantis (catching grasshoppers) (special print from the "Journal for Scientific Insect Biology" (Vol. III [1st episode, Vol. XII]), 1907, Issue 4, p. 117-122 and Issue 5 –6, 1907, p. 147–152), self-published by the ed., Berlin 1907
• MK Berg, CJ Schwarz, JE Mehl: The praying mantis, Mantis religiosa. (= Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei. Volume 656). Westarp Sciences, Hohenwarsleben 2011, 523 pages.

Web links

Commons : European praying mantis  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Pictures from the life of Mantis religiosa - pictures of the behavior of the parasite Mantibaria seefelderiana when laying eggs
• Wasp attacks praying mantis Mantis religiosa
• Videos: Mantis religiosa published by the Institute for Scientific Film . Provided in the AV portal of the technical information library .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ S. Ingrisch, G. Köhler (1998): Red List of Geradflügler (Orthoptera sl) (status: 1993, changed 1997). - In: M. Binot, R. Bless, P. Boye, H. Gruttke and P. Pretscher (compiled and edited): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany.  - Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.), Series of publications for landscape management and nature conservation, Bonn-Bad Godesberg 55: 252-254.
2. ↑ S. Ergene (1953): Homochrome color adjustments in Mantis religiosa . Magazine see Physiol., Berlin 35: 36-41
3. ^ SE Lawrence (1992): Sexual Cannibalism in the Praying Mantid, Mantis religiosa : A Field Study. - Source Anim. Behav., London 43 (4): 569-583.
4. ^ M. Fellinger, R. Fellinger, W. Heitland (2003): Wasps participate in the prey of praying mantises. - Nature and Museum 133 (10): 295-301.
5. ↑ M. Berg, M. Keller (2004): Die Gottesanbeterin, Mantis religiosa LINNAEUS, 1758 (Mantodea: Mantidae), in the urban area of ​​Berlin-Schöneberg - Your way of life and faunistic observations in the years 1998 to 2003. - Märk. Entomol. Nachr., Potsdam 6 (1): 55-84.
6. ^ M. Fellinger, R. Fellinger (2006): Fascinating cannibals - the praying mantis and their natural habitat. - Natur und Tier Verlag, Münster, 223 pp.
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e} M. K. Berg, CJ Schwarz, JE Mehl: Die Gottesanbeterin, Mantis religiosa. (= Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei. Volume 656). Westarp Sciences, Hohenwarsleben 2007, approx. 400 pages.
8. ↑ WJ Davis, E. Liske (1985): The mating dance of the praying mantis: Anatomy of a scientific myth. - natural sciences Rundschau, Stuttgart 38 (6): 223-230.
9. ↑ P. Prokop (2001): K sexuálnemu správaniu modlivky zelenej ( Mantis religiosa L.) - Notes on the Mating Behavior of the Praying Mantis, Mantis religiosa. - Sborník přírodovědného klubu v Uh. Hradišti 6: 98-103 (Czech).
10. ^ ^{A b} Peter Detzel: The locusts of Baden-Württemberg . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8001-3507-8 , pp. 182 f .
11. ↑ The praying mantis on the rise. Deutschlandfunk, January 8, 2015, accessed on September 23, 2018 .  .
12. ↑ Report on the impact on the North American ecosystem of the fishing horror species introduced there on Beautiful Native Plants ( Link )
13. ^ Daniel Otte, Lauren Spearman and Martin BD Stiewe: Mantodea Species File Online . Version 1.0 / 4.1 (accessed June 11, 2012)

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