Here's Lookin' at You Kid...and You...and You...and You...
Look around all you want. You'd have a tough time finding a better set of eyes than a praying mantis. Correction, better sets of eyes. A praying mantis like this one from Andasibe, Madagascar, has more eyes than you can shake an optometrist at.
Like all insects, they have a pair of compound eyes. Those are the big bulgy ones you can see in the photo. Those black dots in the middle are not pupils. It's just an optical illusion. They don't have pupils or eyelids. Each one of those compound eyes is made of hundreds of little eyes, or lens.
But that is not what makes them such good lookers. They also have three simple eyes that can sense light and dark arranged in a triangle between their long antennae. Of course, most insects have simple eyes, so that's not so special either.
Here are the special bits.
A praying mantis is one of the few insects with stereoscopic vision. That's a fancy way of saying they can see things from two different angles like we do and pinpoint exactly how far away a tasty gnat may be buzzing.
"Hey, if we have stereoscopic vision too, why are praying mantises so special?"
Well, can you look straight ahead and read a book that's behind your left shoulder? A praying mantis can...as long as you teach it how to read first. They can see 300 degrees without even turning their heads.
But turn their heads they can. They are one of the few animals in the world that can turn their heads around and look straight behind them without moving their bodies.
Add that to all their eyes and the stereoscopic vision and you have yourself one fine little predator. Mosquitoes and flies don't stand a chance if they are unlucky enough to land nearby.
But it is not just annoying insect pests that get served up for mantis lunches. Large tropical praying mantises have been known to eat small lizards, birds, rodents and even snakes.
Let's hope they don't get any bigger.
5 comments:
I would really like if i had eyes like that! They would come in handy.
Dear Maddie,
Thanks so much for the comments. Eyes like that would be cool. Unless of course you needed glasses. It could get quite expensive by the time you get all the pairs you would need.
I got a grayish, greenish mantis...I don't remember if it was in Canada or Italy. I think I remember that it felt like two erasers rubbing your hands. It was very strange. How many animals have you seen in Madagascar?
Pau, 3rd grade, Federico
Mrs. Gargione's Class-
Huw- How big do the tropical praying mantises get?
Avery- Do the praying mantises in the tropics live longer and get bigger because of their longer life spans?
Max- Are praying mantises still bigger than most of the other insects?
Nancy- How big was the praying mantis you found?
Albert-How long do they live?
Rylan- Have you ever seen a mantis eat a lizard, snake or bird?
Chesirae- How big is the biggest mantis?
Sylene- How many eggs do praying mantises lay?
Saskia- Do they eat other praying mantises?
Mrs. Livingston's Class-
Sullivan- Exactly how big do those tropical praying mantises get?
Jennifer- How many eyes do they have?
Alexandra- WHat's the biggest praying mantis ever found?
Georgia- Are tarantulas big because they live in the tropics as well?
James- Do praying mantises eat spiders?
Joshua- What are those little black dots on their eyes?
Julia- Do they eat things that are bigger than them?
Will- How did scientists find out what the praying mantises could see?
Hsihsin- Can a praying mantis camouflage as well as a gecko?
Eamonn- What eats praying mantises?
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