Tarachodes

{{Short description|Genus of praying mantises}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Tarachodes sp, a, Pretoria.jpg

| taxon = Tarachodes

| authority = Burmeister, 1838

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = Many, see text

}}

The bark mantises and ground mantises (genus Tarachodes) are praying mantises now placed in the family Eremiaphilidae[http://mantodea.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1185382 Mantodea Species File (Version 5.0/5.0, retrieved 12 July 2020)] that are native to the Afrotropics. They are generally light brown but more silvery on the wings. The wings are attractively reticulated, and the veins may be mottled dark and pale.{{cite book |author1=Alan Weaving |author2=Mike Picker |author3=Griffiths, Charles Llewellyn |title=Field Guide to Insects of South Africa |publisher=New Holland Publishers, Ltd |year=2003 |page= 62 |isbn=1-86872-713-0 }} The head is wider than the pronotum, which is rounded anteriorly, and doesn't overlap with the rear of the head. The pronotum is depressed, with its sides more or less parallel, and only a weak supra-coxal bulge is present.{{cite web |last1=Ramel |first1=Gordon |title=Family Mantidae: Key to subfamilies |url=http://www.earthlife.net/insects/man-fam3.htm |website=The Earthlife Web |access-date=18 December 2014}} The anterior tibia are flattened and greatly expanded longitudinally, and the tibial claw does not fit into a pit between the 1st and 2nd external spines of the anterior femora, as in a few mantis groups.

These mantises are ambush predators and many species are cryptically coloured to blend in with their surroundings. Some have brightly coloured undersides which are displayed to startle and drive off assailants. Some species such as Tarachodes maurus brood their eggs, and others, such as Tarachodes afzelii, not only brood their eggs but continue to guard their young after they hatch out.{{cite book|author=James T. Costa|title=The Other Insect Societies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PYRFDrZs9QAC&pg=PA136 |year=2006 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-02163-1 |pages=136–137}}

File:Tarachodes sp, d, Pretoria.jpg|{{center|Face}}

File:Tarachodes sp, g, Pretoria.jpg|{{center|Reticulated wings}}

File:Tarachodes sp, j, Pretoria.jpg|{{center|Pronotum, front legs}}

File:Tarachodes sp, i, Pretoria.jpg|{{center|Full body}}