Empusidae is a family of plant-mimicking mantisesSvenson, Gavin J., et al. "Of flowers and twigs: phylogenetic revision of the plant‐mimicking praying mantises (Mantodea: Empusidae and Hymenopodidae) with a new suprageneric classification." Systematic Entomology 40.4 (2015) (see

Mantodea Mantises are an Order (biology), order (Mantodea) of insects that contains List of mantis genera and species, over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids") ...

), consisting of 10 genera, in two subfamilies. Unlike many other mantis families, the Empusidae are a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

lineage.Khokhar, Jawaid A., and N. M. Soomro. "A Comparative Study of Structural Adaptations of Mouthparts in Mantodea From Sindh." Pakistan J. Zool 41.1 (2009): 21-27.Svenson, Gavin J., and Michael F. Whiting. "Phylogeny of Mantodea based on molecular data: evolution of a charismatic predator." Systematic Entomology 29.3 (2004): 359-370. Empusidae mantises are ambush predators, with mouthparts adapted to feeding on other insects and small animals. The majority of Empusidae species are distributed throughout Africa, but they are also found in Southeast Asia and in the southern parts of Europe.Ehrmann, Reinhard. Mantodea Gottesanbeterinnen der Welt. Natur und Tier, 2002.

Natural history

The Empusidae species '' Gongylus gongylodes'' ( Linné, 1758) was the first mantis species ever to be described. Since '' Gongylus'' mantises have been fascinating entomologists and have been bred in captivity for a long time, their behavior and breeding preferences are well known, such as a defensive behavior of displaying a hissing noise by rubbing the anterior edges of its serrated fore wings to the

femur The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only long bone, bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many quadrupeds, four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The Femo ...

of the hind legs.

Morphology

The about 28 species of empusid mantisfamily Empusidae
Mantodea Species File, 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023. are all relatively large and bizarre looking. The

prothorax The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum ( ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ...

is always surrounded by a crest and the femur of the middle and hind legs often have flap-like appendages. The pronotum is characteristically elongated and the abdomen is often lobed. Members of the Mantoidea superfamily possess a cyclopean ear, an organ situated on the metathorax, which has been proven to be an adaptation to bat predation. The presence of this adaptation has been dated to originate in the early

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

.Grimaldi, David and Michael S. Engel. ''Evolution of the Insects.'' Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Phylogeny

The Empusidae belong to the superfamily Hymenopoidea, together with the

Hymenopodidae Hymenopodidae is a Family (biology), family of the Order (biology), order Mantodea (mantises), which contains six Subfamily (biology), subfamilies. Some of the species in this Family (biology), family mimic flowers and are found camouflaged amon ...

. Phylogenetic studies place the Empusidae as a sister group to the Hymenopodidae. The Empusidae and Hymenopodidae are, in turn, placed as sister groups to all other ambush mantises. The latest phylogeny was revised by Svenson et al. 2015. The Mantodea Species File currently includes two subfamilies:

Blepharodinae

* '' Blepharodes'' Bolivar, 1890 * '' Blepharopsis'' Rehn, 1902

Empusinae

This subfamily is divided into two tribes:

Empusini

;subtribe Empusina * '' Dilatempusa'' Roy, 2004 * '' Empusa'' Illiger, 1798 * '' Gongylus'' Thunberg, 1815 * '' Hypsicorypha'' Krauss, 1892 ;subtribe Idolomorphina * '' Chopardempusa'' Paulian, 1958 * '' Hemiempusa'' Saussure & Zehntner, 1895 * '' Idolomorpha'' Burmeister, 1838

Idolomorphini

* '' Idolomantis'' Uvarov, 1940

Historical findings

In 2017-2018, a rock carving of an Empusidae with raptorial forearms was revealed in the Teimareh rock art site in the

Khomeyn County Khomeyn County () is in Markazi Province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Khomeyn. History The name "Khomeyn" was first mentioned in a book named ''The History of Prophets and Kings''. Subterranean canals (qanats), sewers and its famous ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. An engraved, insect-like image has a 14-cm length and 11-cm width with two circles at its sides which probably dates 40,000–4,000 years back. This motif is analogous to the famous 'squatter man'

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

Natural history

Morphology

Phylogeny

Blepharodinae

Empusinae

Empusini

Idolomorphini

Historical findings

Gallery

See also

References

External links