European Mantis

Praying mantis
Mantis religiosa
Adult female Lisbon, Portugal
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Mantodea
Family: Mantidae
Subfamily: Mantinae
Tribe: Mantini
Genus: Mantis
Species: M. religiosa
Binomial name
Mantis religiosa
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies

See Text

Mantis religiosa, with the common name praying mantis, and outside Europe the European mantis, is an insect in the family Mantidae. It is one of the most well-known and widespread species of the order Mantodea, the Mantises.

Range

Mantis religiosa is native to Europe, Asia, and Africa. It was introduced to North America in 1899 on a shipment of nursery plants from southern Europe. Now it is found from the Northeastern United States to the Pacific Northwest, and across Canada.

Despite being an introduced species, it is the official state insect of Connecticut.[1]

Mantis religiosa, female with indicative marking (black spot) on fore coxa

Description

The European mantis is usually 5–7.5 cm (2–3 inches) in length, and has shades of bright green to tan. It can be distinguished easily by a black-ringed spot beneath the fore coxae.

Subspecies

[7] [8]

Additional images

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mantis religiosa.

Data related to Mantis religiosa at Wikispecies

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, February 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.