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iPraying mantis
Image:Praying mantis india.jpg A Praying mantis from India
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Mantodea Family: Mantidae

Mantidae is the largest family of the Mantodea order of insects, commonly known as praying mantis. They are so named for their "prayer-like" stance. (The word mantis in Greek means prophet.) There are approximately 2,340 species world-wide; most are tropical or subtropical.

Many species are found in North America, three of them are most common: the European mantis (Mantis religiosa), the Chinese mantis (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis), and the Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina). Of these, only the last is native to the continent - the European and Chinese species were introduced around the 1900s as garden predators in an attempt to control pest populations.

A mantis Ootheca

A mantis from the Western Ghats

[edit] Subfamilies

• Incertae - Fossils Only
• Orthoderinae
• Choeradodinae
• Liturgusinae
• Caliridinae
• Tarachodinae
• Vatinae
• Oligonychinae

• Haaniinae
• Thespinae
• Deroplatinae
• Phyllotheliinae
• Oxyothespinae
• Amelinae
• Angelinae

• Mantinae
• Sibyllinae
• Compsothespinae
• Iridopteryginae
• Schizocephalinae
• Photininae
• Toxoderinae
• Incertae

[edit] See also

• Mantis shrimp
• Mantidfly
• Praying mantis kung fu

[edit] External links

• Key to Mantidae Genera
• Tree of Life - Mantidae
• Natures's Best Masked Flower Image
• North American mantidsde:Fangheuschrecken

es:Mantis religiosa fr:Mantidae io:Manto nl:Mantodea ja:カマキリ sv:Bönsyrsa