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melvynyeo — Dead Leaf Mantis

Published: 2014-04-16 08:06:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 4379; Favourites: 166; Downloads: 61
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Description A posing dead leaf mantis on the forest floor. Taken at night in Singapore.

Quote from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis

Mantises have two grasping, spiked forelegs ("raptorial legs") in which prey items are caught and held securely. In most insect legs, including the posterior four legs of a mantis, the coxa and trochanter combine as an inconspicuous base of the leg; in the raptorial legs however, the coxa and trochanter combine to form a segment about as long as the femur, which is a spiky part of the grasping apparatus (see illustration). Located at the base of the femur are a set of discoidal spines, usually four in number, but ranging from zero to as many as five depending on the species. These spines are preceded by a number of tooth-like tubercles, which, along with a similar series of tubercles along the tibia and the apical claw near its tip, give the foreleg of the mantis its grasp on its prey. The foreleg ends in a delicate tarsus made of between four and five segments and ending in a two-toed claw with no arolium and used as a walking appendage.[8]

The mantis thorax consists of a prothorax, a mesothorax, and a metathorax. In all species apart from the genus Mantoida, the prothorax, which bears the head and forelegs, is much longer than the other two thoracic segments. The prothorax is also flexibly articulated, allowing for a wide range of movement of the head and forelimbs while the remainder of the body remains more or less immobile. The articulation of the neck is also remarkably flexible; some species of mantis can rotate the head nearly 180 degrees.

Mantises may have a visual range of up to 20 metres. Their compound eyes may comprise up to 10,000 ommatidia. The eyes are widely spaced and laterally situated, affording a wide binocular field of vision and, at close range, precise stereoscopic vision. The dark spot on each eye is a pseudopupil. As their hunting relies heavily on vision, mantises are primarily diurnal. Many species, however, fly at night, and then may be attracted to artificial lights. Nocturnal flight is especially important to males in search of less-mobile females that they locate by detecting their pheromones. Flying at night exposes mantises to fewer bird predators than diurnal flight would. Many mantises also have an auditory thoracic organ that helps them to avoid bats by detecting their echolocation and responding evasively.[8]

Mantises can be loosely categorized as being macropterous (long-winged), brachypterous (short-winged), micropterous (vestigial-winged), or apterous (wingless). If not wingless, a mantis has two sets of wings: the outer wings, or tegmina, are usually narrow, opaque, and leathery. They function as camouflage and as a shield for the hind wings. The hind wings are much broader, more delicate, and transparent. They are the main organs of flight, if any. Brachypterous species are at most minimally capable of flight, other species not at all. The wings are mostly erected in these mantids for alarming enemies and attracting females. Even in many macropterous species the female is much heavier than the male, has much shorter wings, and rarely takes flight if she is capable of it at all.

The abdomen of all mantises consist of ten tergites with a corresponding set of nine sternites visible in males and seven visible in females. The slim abdomen of most males allows them to take flight more easily while the thicker abdomen of the females houses the reproductive machinery for generating the ootheca. The abdomen of both sexes ends in a pair of cerci.

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Comments: 15

zegkaas [2015-10-21 14:03:23 +0000 UTC]

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zegkaas [2015-10-21 14:03:18 +0000 UTC]

Go go gadget-cobra!

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RavenLacrimosa [2014-12-02 00:26:23 +0000 UTC]

It looks awesome ^^ I wish I can catch one of those ^^ lol xD

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melvynyeo In reply to RavenLacrimosa [2014-12-03 08:55:26 +0000 UTC]

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RavenLacrimosa In reply to melvynyeo [2014-12-03 12:35:22 +0000 UTC]

^^ lol XD

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maryjayne530 [2014-05-01 23:13:52 +0000 UTC]

I'm telling you! They all pose!! It's so fking awesome!!  When you take the photos, does it seem like they know what is going on or that they purposely pose?

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melvynyeo In reply to maryjayne530 [2014-05-02 09:41:00 +0000 UTC]

I wish i can get them to pose Going all the way to the insect perspective helps to get some eye contact. Like for this mantis shot, i need to rest my camera on the forest floor to get that angle. Since mantis are generally curious, they will stare at you so it look like they pose All these might last for a few secs only when i get close before they run away.

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maryjayne530 In reply to melvynyeo [2014-05-02 22:33:33 +0000 UTC]

Oh wow, so you have to be really quick to actually capture the "poses". I commend your dedication, my friend!

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melvynyeo In reply to maryjayne530 [2014-05-03 06:18:26 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

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RaymondEternal [2014-04-22 06:02:02 +0000 UTC]

Cool Shot!!! You even made him pose at the camera... XD

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Entomoligist [2014-04-17 01:41:10 +0000 UTC]

I used to have one of those as a pet! I loved it.

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Raptrax101 [2014-04-16 19:41:41 +0000 UTC]

male or female do you think?

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Altair75 [2014-04-16 17:36:11 +0000 UTC]

Very nice image!  

When I at it from a far, it looks like a cobra.

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Kalhiki [2014-04-16 12:27:47 +0000 UTC]

Love Mantises. Sad that the ones in my area aren't nearly as cool as this.

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Mackingster [2014-04-16 08:07:39 +0000 UTC]

Very impressive fellow.

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