Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Praying Mantis


Praying Mantid

I spotted three Praying Mantises in my garden this year. I’m always glad to see the voracious eaters. They seem to like the coleus.
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They are so good job of catching and eating other insects that some people think they would be more aptly called Preying Mantis. In fact, they are fast enough to catch mosquitoes and flies. Unfortunately, they don’t discriminate and also eat good bugs.
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I’m always confused by the difference between Mantis and Mantid. According to Gary Watkins and Ric Bessin, University of Kentucky Entomology,
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Although many refer to a member of this group as a ‘praying mantis,' mantis refers to the genus Mantis. Only some praying mantids belong to the genus Mantis. Mantid refers to the entire group.”
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So all Mantises are Mantids but not all Mantids are Mantises. Right?

3 comments:

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I am really very Impressed after seen this picture as you presented above. It is very Interesting to see it. I really enjoyed to watch it.

donna said...

Hi Marie...I've learned a lot about Mantises and Mantids from this post. At first, I thought the word Mantids was a typo. I should have known that you wouldn't make that kind of mistake. I'm one of those who all these years have been thinking/saying "preying" instead of "praying".

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your mother. You're right, nobody can take the memories from you.

Happy Autumn, Marie.

donna

Marie said...

Donna,
Thank you for your kind words. I think of mom every day.

I've been corrected several times on the Mantis/Mantid thing. Yet some experts claim the words are interchangeable.