Praying Mantis ( Disambiguation ) :
The praying mantis is named for its prominent front legs, which are bent and held together at an angle that suggests the position of player. The larger group of these insects is more properly called the praying mantids. Mantis refers to the genus mantis, to which only some praying mantids belong.
By any name, these fascinating insects are formidable predators. They have triangular heads poised on a long 'neck', or elongated thorax. Mantids can turn their heads 180 degrees to scan their surroundings with 2 large compound eyes and 3 other simple eyes located between them.
Typically green or brown and well camouflaged on the plants among which they live, mantis lie in ambush or patiently stalk their quarry. They use their front legs to snare their prey with reflexes so quick that they are difficult to see with the naked eye. Their legs are further equipped with spikes for snaring prey and pinning it in place.
Moths, crickets, grasshoppers, flies and other insects are usually the unfortunate recipients of unwanted mantid attention. However, the insects will also eat others of their own kind. The most famous example of this is the notorious mating behavior of the adult female, who sometimes eats her mate just after - or even during mating. Yet this behavior seems not to deter males from reproduction.
Females regularly lay hundreds of eggs in a small case, and nymphs hatch looking much like tiny versions of their parents.
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...Hammer Headed Worm...
- It is a hammer head worm! Just as it's name, it has a head shaped like a hammer..
- Hammer head worms like dark and damp areas, and just like snails and slugs, they leave a slimy path wherever they go.
- They don't have a predator, but they do feed on their own kind. Earthworms are their main diet, but they also eat slugs and insect larvae. The hammer head worm coils itself around the earthworm, and then uses its enzyme to "melt" it for a nice mushy dinner.
- Although it is a native of Asia, it can now be found all over the world. Don't worry! They are harmless to humans.
