Different types of arthropods have developed lots of different strategies to avoid being caught. Some live in colonies in elaborate nests, going out as little as possible. Others have strong defences, with fierce mouthparts and poison. Others just contain poison or bad-tasting chemicals that make them impossible to eat. Yet others blend into the background so that predators look straight past them.
The mantid Geomantis larvoides has evolved to look like a dried bit of old wood. It is not as glamorous as many of the other mantids, but it is easily mistaken for a seed pod or a dead twig or leaf, and so escapes the predators just as well.
The common European praying mantis lives among leafy branches and on blades of grass through southern Europe. Its stick-like green body helps it to camouflage itself from predators. It gets its name because its two front limbs are always slightly bent and it looks as though it is kneeling to pray.
The mantid Geomantis larvoides has evolved to look like a dried bit of old wood. It is not as glamorous as many of the other mantids, but it is easily mistaken for a seed pod or a dead twig or leaf, and so escapes the predators just as well.
The common European praying mantis lives among leafy branches and on blades of grass through southern Europe. Its stick-like green body helps it to camouflage itself from predators. It gets its name because its two front limbs are always slightly bent and it looks as though it is kneeling to pray.
