Chinese mantis

File:Tenodera sinensis yellow spot.JPG.]]

The Chinese mantis is a long, slender, brown and green praying mantis. It is typically longer than other praying mantis species, reaching just over {{convert|11|cm|in|abbr=on}}, and is the largest mantis species in North America (spread throughout the Northeast United States). Its color can vary from overall green to brown with a green lateral stripe on the borders of the front wings in the brown color form. In low light, the eyes of the mantis appear black, but in daylight appear to be clear, matching the color of the head. Chinese mantids look similar to another mantis species that has been introduced to the United States, the narrow-winged mantid (Tenodera angustipennis). Tenodera sinensis and Tenodera angustipennis are similar in appearance; however, it is possible to tell them apart by locating a spot in between their front legs, as the spot is yellow in the Chinese mantis but orange in the narrow-winged mantis. The female can produce several semi-spherical oothecae, roughly {{convert|2|cm|in|abbr=on|1}} in diameter, containing up to 300 eggs. The oothecae are often affixed to vegetation such as bushes and small trees.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

File:Mantis ootheca in Marine Park (91115).jpg]]

This mantis is native to China, Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Micronesia, and Thailand. Populations of T. sinensis in Japan are sympatric with Tenodera aridifolia, the Japanese giant mantis, of which T. sinensis was formerly considered a subspecies.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

The Chinese mantis is regarded by some experts as invasive in various regions of the United States, particularly where the native Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) is found.{{Cite web |title=Maryland Insects - Invasive Species |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/wildlife/insects/html/invasive.html |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=msa.maryland.gov}}{{Cite web |title=The Invasive Mantis Species {{!}} Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art |url=https://www.brandywine.org/conservancy/blog/invasive-mantis-species |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=www.brandywine.org}} While commonly sold for pest control, it is said that Chinese mantids lack effectiveness in pest management. As ambush predators, they attack anything within reach that they can subdue, but they do not actively hunt for insect pests.{{Cite web |title=Chinese Mantid |url=https://entomology.ces.ncsu.edu/biological-control-information-center/beneficial-predators/chinese-mantid/ |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=entomology.ces.ncsu.edu |language=en}} Their non-selective predatory behavior and significant size has led to documented attacks on beneficial insects such as pollinators, small birds, mammals, frogs, and snakes. As a result, the Chinese mantis can alter food webs and affect the dynamics of local insect populations.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

Chinese mantises hatch in the spring, eat, grow, and molt through the summer, and lay eggs at the end of summer. When it gets too cold, they die, only living around a year long.{{Cite web|title=Chinese Mantis|url=https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/chinese-mantis|access-date=2021-09-29|website=Missouri Department of Conservation|language=en}} First instar nymphs that eat less take a longer time to molt to the next instar and are smaller at the second instar than first instar nymphs that have been fed more.{{ cite news | first1=K. | last1=Duss | first2=L E | last2=Hurd | title=Food limitation reduces body length in mantid nymphs, Tenodera sinensis Saussure (Mantodea: Mantidae): Implications for fitness | journal=Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington | year=1997 | volume=99 | publisher=Washington, etc. :Entomological Society of Washington | pages=490–493 | issn=0013-8797 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16213161#page/504/mode/1up }}

Tenodera sinensis is a common pet for mantis enthusiasts, and oothecae can be purchased from plant nurseries across the US.{{Cite web |title=Chinese Mantis |url=https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/chinese-mantis |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=Missouri Department of Conservation |language=en}}

The Chinese mantis is preyed on by other mantises, birds, and the Asian giant hornet in its native range. The female mantis specifically preys on male mantises. She often kills and eats her male partner after mating, providing nutrition for her offspring.{{Cite web|title=Making a meal of it: Praying mantis cannibalism explained|url=https://phys.org/news/2016-06-meal-mantis-cannibalism.html|access-date=2021-09-29|website=phys.org|language=en}} Sexual cannibalism is a strange phenomenon not yet completely understood by scientists.{{Cite journal|last1=Prokop|first1=Pavol|last2=Maxwell|first2=Michael R.|date=2016-02-10|title=Female predatory response to conspecific males and heterospecific prey in the praying mantis Mantis religiosa: evidence for discrimination of conspecific males|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10164-016-0458-8|journal=Journal of Ethology|language=en|volume=34|issue=2|pages=139–146|doi=10.1007/s10164-016-0458-8|s2cid=15224163|issn=0289-0771|url-access=subscription}}

The European mantis (Mantis religiosa) and the Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) are both smaller mantises closely resembling the Chinese mantis.{{Cite web|title=Chinese Mantis|url=https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/chinese-mantis|access-date=2021-09-20|website=Missouri Department of Conservation|language=en}} The European mantis is anywhere from tan to green in color and about 7.5 cm (3 in) long.{{Cite web|date=2020-12-09|title=European Mantis|url=https://www.colorado.edu/cumuseum/2020/12/09/european-mantis|access-date=2021-09-24|website=Museum of Natural History|language=en}} The Carolina mantis, on the other hand, is only 6 cm (2.5 in) in length and varies more in color.{{Cite web|title=Carolina Mantid {{!}} NC State Extension Publications|url=https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/carolina-mantid|access-date=2021-09-24|website=content.ces.ncsu.edu|language=en-US}}

There are two martial arts styles created to mimic the movements of the Chinese mantis. Developed in the Shandong province of China in the mid-17th century, Praying Mantis kung-fu is based on the quick movements and techniques of the Chinese mantis. An unrelated style of kung fu that was developed by the Hakka people in Southern China is known as Southern Praying Mantis.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

Master Mantis, one of the supporting characters in the 2008 Dreamworks Animation film franchise Kung Fu Panda, is a Chinese mantis and one of the members of the Furious Five.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

File:Tenodera sinensis 3 Luc Viatour.jpg|Adult male

File:Tenodera sinensis 1 Luc Viatour.jpg|Adult female

File:Mantis in Connecticut.jpg|Adult at rest

File:Prayingmantismeal.jpg|Adult female Tenodera sinensis eating a long-horned grasshopper

File:Brown sub-adult female Chinese Mantis on hand1243.JPG|Sub-adult female in hand

File:Chinese mantis on wall.jpg|Adult female on a wall

• List of mantis genera and species

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Tenodera sinensis}}

• {{inaturalist taxon|71034}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1149167}}

Category:Mantidae

Category:Mantodea of Asia

Category:Insects of China

Category:Mantodea of North America

Category:Insects described in 1871

Category:Insects of Korea