Mantodea
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| Mantodea | ||||||||
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| Missing image Mantis2_6065.jpg Carolina mantis | ||||||||
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Chaeteessidae | ||||||||
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European mantis (Mantis religiosa) |
The order Mantodea consists of the Praying mantis named for their "prayer-like" stance. (The word mantis in Greek means prophet.) There are approximately 2,000 species world-wide; most are tropical or subtropical. There are three species of praying mantises that are common to North America: the European mantis (Mantis religiosa), the Chinese mantis (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis), and the Carolina mantis (Stagomantis carolina). The praying mantis is also the state insect of Connecticut. The English and Chinese species were introduced to the United States around the 1900s as garden predators hoping to control the pest populations.