| Summary: | Praying Mantis: Order: Mantodea Life span: 12 months Environment: North America, South America, Africa, Australia, Southern Eurasia. Diet: The praying mantis is a carnivore, their diet consists of moths, crickets, grasshoppers, flies, and other insects. Reproduction: Many praying mantises engage in sexual cannibalism during reproduction, as an adult female will sometimes bite off the male's head during or after mating. Katydid: Order: Orthoptera, Family: Tettigoniidae. Belongs to the same family as the long-horned grasshopper (accession number 2013.1.661). Found on every continent except Antarctica. Panama alone is home to 150 different species. Diet: Omnivores, katydids eat leaves, flowers, bark, seeds, and other insects. Predators: Katydids comprise the base of many food webs, their predators include monkeys, rodents, bats, birds, lizards, and amphibians. Katydids' main defense is camouflage, mimicking the shape and color of leaves. Mainly considered a pest since a large swarm can do considerable damage to crops. Like crickets, male katydids can rub their wings together to produce a mating call known as "stridulation." The name katydid is derived from this call, which is a repetitive "katydid, katy-didn't." Tim Laman, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/praying-mantis/ /// BBC Nature, http://ufdc.ufl.edu/my/edit/AA00016813/00001/2#template ///University of Florida Department of Entomology and Nematology, http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/walker/buzz/katydids.htm /// Encyclopædia Britannica, "Katydid," http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/313386/katydid
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