Praying mantis
Template:Taxobox begin Template:Taxobox image Template:Taxobox begin placement Template:Taxobox regnum entry Template:Taxobox phylum entry Template:Taxobox classis entry Template:Taxobox ordo entry Template:Taxobox familia entry Template:Taxobox end placement Template:Taxobox end A praying mantis, or praying mantid, is an insect of the family Mantidae (order Mantodea), 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. Some texts refer to the European mantis (Mantis religiosa) as the most common praying mantis in European countries.
English and Chinese species were introduced to the United States around 1900 as garden predators in an effort to control pest populations.
For a more detailed treatment of this insect, see Mantodea.
Northern Praying Mantis martial art
In China, there is a martial art form called on Northern Praying Mantis, in which the attacker styles him or herself after the movements of a praying mantis.
An old, but still popular, entertainment is praying mantis wrestling, in which the Chinese use their own pet praying mantis and let it fight with other mantis.