Hello ,

“You see, but do not observe” a statement by Sherlock Holmes, that is of utmost importance to all scientists. Whether you’re an academic scientist, a school project scientist, or a citizen scientist, we often forget that there is a huge difference between simply seeing and observing.

If you encounter a cool insect that has ventured into your home accidentally, we can often recall what we saw, but that is about as far as it goes. To move from seeing to observing, we must apply what we already know to what we are seeing and draw deductions or conclusions from there.

We already know a lot about nature, and it is not as complex as we think to make very good observations and deductions from what we see. To explain this more clearly, we are going to look at a few praying mantids. *(Mantis refers to a single genus within the order Mantodea, while Mantids refers to the entire group). To make some useful observations we need to look at the following basic traits of the mantids: colour, body shape or adaptations and stance. What is the colour of the mantid? What changes or adaptations is there to the body that is unique? How the mantis sits when it is resting?  These traits combined with a little knowledge of nature will tell us things like, where to find the mantid we are looking at, how they will hunt and possibly even what they will possibly hunt! Let us look at a few mantids to clear up how we will use these to make observations.

The first mantid we are going to investigate is the common green South African Mantis (Miomantis caffra). This species is green in colour, which tells us that they should be found within vegetation where their colour would serve as camouflage. They have no specific body shape adaptations that will lead to any significant observations. The stance of the mantis is upright, and they stand tall, and with their legs this could indicate that they are often found within grass or plants with thin stems where they will blend easily.

The second mantid is the Cryptic mantis (Sibylla pretiosa). They can vary in colour from green to brown, and usually have some black spots on the tegmina (leather like narrow front wings that protects the hind wings and function as camouflage). The colour alone can put this mantis anywhere close to vegetation. Their bodies are longer, and they have long thin legs that have small leaf like protrusions on them. Their heads, both the males’ and females’, have a small leaflike or sticklike protrusion, which makes the front part of the body and head look like a small twig or a leaf’s petiole. These mantids usually hang upside down or sit on vertical surfaces with their raptorial front legs held out in front of them. The fact that they like to sit upside down or on vertical surfaces, (look like a twig), have legs that mimic old leaf petioles and have front wings that look like green or brown bark, indicates that this species will likely be found on the stems and thicker branches of trees. The size of the raptorial front legs indicate that they will likely catch small, yet fast prey, so likely something like flies.

The third species were looking at is the Holy Bark Mantids (Tarachodes sanctus). These are brown, with slightly widened hemelytra that looks like bark. They also have a flat stance, and it looks like they are hugging the surface that they sit on. When they walk around, unlike the previous two species, the bark mantids use all 6 legs to walk with. Their colour, build, and stance indicate that these mantids will live on tree bark. The fact that they walk on all six legs likely means that fast movement is important. This along with the flattened stance would indicate that they are not pure ambush predators that would wait for their prey to catch it but would lie in wait until the prey is close enough and then run and grab the prey.

The last mantis is the Ghost Mantis (Phyllocrania paradoxa). The Ghost mantids are various shades of brown, shaped like a leaf, usually hang upside down and remain motionless for hours on end if you look at them. This all sounds a lot like a dead leaf to me! And where do you find dead leaves? On the forest floor. And that is most likely where we will then encounter the Ghost mantids. The fact that they like to hang upside down is a good indication that they will be on a branch or leaf that is close on the ground to catch prey that run across the leaf litter, like crickets or cockroaches.

Can you see how easy it is to make good observations by examining what we see? A scientist is a master of observation and is trained to apply the knowledge they have to what they are seeing.

Have you ever thought about the difference between observation and seeing like this? What other fields have you seen the power of observation through knowledge and experience? Give an example of the observations that are made in this field. One that I can think of is a Mechanic that can listen to a vehicle running and through what he/she hears can determine the problem!

If you would like to send me a message with your answers, feel free to do so on Instagram @abugmanslife or via email to [email protected].

Weekly Top Shot: The Cryptic Mantid