Insect Encyclopedia - Mantis

Mantis (螳螂, Mantis) refers to species belonging to the order Mantodea in the class Insecta, phylum Arthropoda. They have a triangular head and a stick-shaped thorax. There is a pair of forelegs on the upper chest, which are sickle-shaped. If the abdomen has 6 segments, it's a female, and if it has 8 segments, it's a male. They hide in grass and snatch prey with their forelegs when it passes by, eating it alive. They prey not only on insects like grasshoppers, dragonflies, and cicadas, but also on small vertebrates such as frogs and lizards if they are smaller than themselves. They are born in spring, grow in summer, mate and lay eggs in autumn. Females sometimes eat the males during mating to supplement their nutritional deficiencies. Males can hardly escape during mating due to the female's pheromones. No matter how much they try to escape, all mantises die in winter and hatch from eggs in spring. In South Korea, 8 species have been recorded, with the common mantis, Chinese praying mantis, broad-shouldered mantis, small mantis, and oriental praying mantis being the most representative.