If I asked you ... "Do you know what a mantis is?"
what would be your answer ..
I think they would say something like ... "A mantis is an insect, very strange, with forelegs like handles ..." and if you heard a female eating a male after mating ... then you would probably imagine ...
Few people know anything more about her ....
It reminds me of an alien ...
There are numerous myths and legends ...
I will list some beliefs that are interesting to me ...
The first mention of a mantis is in the Egyptian Book of the Dead as an Abyt- bird ....
Like some little deity of the underworld ... Like a guide who accompanies the dead on their way through the underworld ...
They are also found to be mentioned in the Sumerian ancient dictionary, from the 9th century BC. where we come across two meanings that can be translated as "mantis" but also as "summoner of spirits" and "prophet from the field" ...
Mantis religiosa
Ancient peoples gave it the name "mantis" and it comes from ancient Greek and has the meaning ... "inspired by a deity"; "prophet". Thus the mantises became prophets from the field, and who whispered to the lost to find their way home… ..
In Rome, when someone got sick, it was said that "The mantis looked at you".
In many tribes in North Africa, this insect was highly respected ... because it was considered to bring good luck and even to be able to bring people back from the dead.
Now a little about them
Mantises can use any type of prey for food; the only thing that matters is that the prey is alive and moving. They most often feed on flies, caterpillars, moths, locusts, and crickets; larger species also feed on wasps, bees, spiders, frogs, lizards and fish.
The body of a mantis consists of three parts - the head, chest and abdomen. There are three pairs of wings on the chest and two pairs of wings on the abdomen.
They catch prey with their front legs, but they serve them and they have natural enemies to defend it...
I hope you now get to know this fascinating insect a little closer ...
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