Praying mantis look tiny and harmless, but their attacks can be deadly for prey organisms due to better fighting abilities.
How Do Praying Mantis Defend Themselves? Praying mantis defend themselves by deadly strikes, camouflage, cannibalism, and avoiding movement. In addition, they inflict bites, produce hissing sounds, and fan out their wings. A few species also mimic predators to threaten attacking organisms. They are fearless predators but do not like to fight unless provoked.
Every insect has varying mechanisms to defend itself according to the opponent, as a few rely on bites and stings while others devour threatening organisms.
How do praying mantis protect themselves?
Different defensive strategies are adopted by praying mantis depending on the type of predator, its distance, and other external challenges in their habitats.
Camouflage
Camouflage is a primary defense mechanism of praying mantis as they are masters of camouflage and efficiently hide from predators.
They can blend with the background environment or conceal themselves behind foliage or vegetation. Sometimes, they curl their bodies and attach them to sticks, tree barks, or twigs to look like them.
In addition, the green-bodied mantis also mimics grass blades and quickly hides within dense grass. They have to stay motionless until the predator goes away, as movements make them alert.
I added trailing plants to my mantis cage and other decorative items, like twigs, that also provide hiding spots. They camouflage behind the twigs or plants when feeling a threat.
So, they hide at suitable places in their habitat that match their body color. They get inside the leaf litter on the ground and come out when they feel safe in their habitat.
Deadly strikes
They are known for their precise strikes on opponents’ bodies while defending themselves. Seeing a mantis attacking their opponents in less than a blink of an eye is pretty interesting.
They can jump or fly higher to land directly on the predator’s body. Their strikes are deadly because they capture it tightly with the spiked forelegs.
These spikes remain dipped into the muscular bodies of predators until they die or lose their body energy to retaliate. Sometimes, these strikes are enough to save their life by threatening.
I had seen them striking prey a couple of times in the garden when it knocked off a small cricket and flew within a short time. The same happens in the case of small predators trying to attack.
In addition, their nymphs can also strike off predators by hitting their bodies hard. Their quick attacking behavior protects them from being devoured or defeated.
Cannibalism
Sexual cannibalism is a defensive approach among praying mantis against their partners when they attack and kill each other during mating.
The female mantis becomes predators for their male partners when hungry and try to cannibalize their tiny bodies. The females have larger bodies, so they successfully devour a predator’s body.
The males evolved to fight against her deadly attacks by approaching from the backside. There are fewer chances of being eaten when she is not aware of their landing or mating intentions.
Moreover, they keep an eye on the female’s activities and quickly grab her body from the abdomen after mounting. Such a defensive approach is common in adult males and females during mating.
Inflict bites
They have strong jaws or mandibles in their mouth that are flexible and make wider cuts in the bodies of captured insects. They only inflict bites when feeling a threat to their survival.
They are also voracious predators and make every possible effort to ensure their survival. My friend was also bitten by its pet mantis when he tried to hold it in his hand by pinching its body.
Handling their bodies with hard hands makes them feel threatened when they aggressively react and bite on the hand or exposed.
They can move their jaws sideways and tear the bodies of smaller predators apart with their mouths. Moreover, they do not have toxic or venomous bites due to the lack of venom in their bodies.
Mimic predators
A few praying mantis mimic predators of threatening organisms to deter them because it creates fear of attack among them. An Asian ant mantis looks like a giant black ant and mimics it.
Accordingly, a few insects stay away from it due to its high resemblance to toxic species of ants. This way, they remain protected from attacks due to their mimicking potential.
Produce hissing sounds
Many birds and animals make hissing sounds to startle predators and avoid the deadly attacks. This sound is produced by expelling air from breathing pores with great force.
Air molecules moving out of the spiracles produce such sound that can deter nearby predators. It becomes more clearly audible at nighttime when no noise exists in their territory.
Fan out wings or fly
Praying mantis have small wings on the backside of their abdomen that support flying behavior in these insects. They fan out wings and display a colorful pattern on the inner side.
The predators change their way after seeing the colorful and bright patterns on their wings that act as warning signals for them. This fanning behavior also makes them look bigger and deadly.
In addition, some of them also attain a praying position to give a threatening signal that works most of the time. Otherwise, they fly away quickly to stay away from their access.
Stay motionless
They can also efficiently play dead to avoid predator detection, as moving bodies usually grab attention. Accordingly, they stay motionless for several minutes until they go away.
This strategy is also seen among ants, cockroaches, and other insects due to the high success rate. It ensures survival because dead mantis are not mostly suitable for hunting or eating.
In addition, my mantis plays dead when it sees humans other than owners close to its cage. It remains motionless due to a lack of recognition and relates it to a threat.
Do praying mantis like to fight?
They are always ready to fight and attack invaders or fellows if they threaten their territory or survival. They developed fighting skills over time and fight efficiently.
The female mantis is more aggressive and attacks when it sees an opponent trying to approach her.
In addition, the male mantis also fight when they find themselves in trouble and defend themselves by showing aggression. They attain a praying position and get ready for an attack or strike on others.
Moreover, the small nymphs are not mature adults and lack well-developed legs and mandibles to bite and cause wounds. They also fight with organisms by utilizing their limited skills.
Are praying mantis fearless predators?
Praying mantis are fearless predators and hunt for deadly prey animals that can risk their lives if the hunting method goes wrong.
They have smaller, sensitive bodies but target larger prey, like mice that hide quickly. It is challenging to capture mice for most hunters, but mantis makes it possible with quick strikes.
In the same way, they can also knock down a small snake by striking on their bodies and devouring them from the middle. Commonly, they decapitate prey to avoid retaliation during devouring.
They bite hard on the body after grasping it between legs to limit their movement. This way, it eats their bodies alive and swallows them slowly.
Similarly, these strong and agile predators fearlessly attack birds, invertebrates, and smaller vertebrates. They do not lose a battle because they wait before making a strike.
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