More Mantis Macro Fun

[bnnrcn]

Is this a waterdrop between antennaes? I can see it in the other photos as well,may be it is an amazing part of the body

[Saorsa]

Is this a waterdrop between antennaes? I can see it in the other photos as well,may be it is an amazing part of the body

Those dots are what are called 'simple eyes' and are quite common in insects with compound eyes.

[bnnrcn]

So,does this mantis have 5 eyes ,2 at the sides and 3 on top of the head ?!..

Those dots are what are called 'simple eyes' and are quite common in insects with compound eyes.

[Saorsa]

So,does this mantis have 5 eyes ,2 at the sides and 3 on top of the head ?!..

Yep. That's what it means. They are called Occelli.

[Stagecoach]

Yep. That's what it means. They are called Occelli.

There's some information that suggests that the two large main eyes are primarily for colour and distance and the three smaller on top of the head as sometimes referred to as 'simple eyes' are perhaps for differentiating between light and dark.

Grahame

[wlou]

"It's not the model release forms I'm worried about it's that I now know how to determine the sex of them and I may have been misled by the advances of some."
Do you mean to say its a boy?

[Ken MT]

I'm guessing that it is a she

http://www.keepinginsects.com/prayin...s-and-females/

[Stagecoach]

I'm guessing that it is a she

http://www.keepinginsects.com/prayin...s-and-females/

Ken, this is one of the articles I used. I suspect the one in this thread was a female as the body was quite short and wide although I did not know to count the body segments at the time.

Out of all the shots I have of various ones there are very few where the sex can be easily determined, this one is certainly a male and young as it has not yet developed wings. As I come across more I will certainly take a greater interest in them now.



Grahame