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- Aug 8, 2005
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(Just about every mantid I've seen in the wild in SE Asia does this.)
1. Camouflage. Seems antithetical but it works. Most of the predatory birds have compromised stereoscopic vision. Sort of the opposite from predators like geckos and lizards in that the telencephalon, bundles of photo-receptors in the eyes enable birds to pinpoint locate objects very precisely - as in landing on a twig unerringly. The downside is this ability is compromised if the object is moving! We've all seen it. A bird pinpoints a place to land but klutzes out sometimes with a failed landing resulting in, as the aviation business calls it, a go around. Thus a mantid swaying. Makes it a perfect target for a wall gecko but geckos don't fly and have this so called blind spot in their brain functions that birds have.
2. Mantid eyesight is very poor. Short sighted. Go stare at a chain link fence. How far away is it? It's much easier to tell if you move your head around helping your brain calculate spatial coordinates. When a mantid sways it is able to see greater distances and get oriented with it's surroundings more accurately.
3. Better footing. Mantids have very poor sensory nerves - or none, in their extremities. Watching mantids land from a leap or flight they take a moment to get their footing back. Imagine trying to walk if your feet are numb or manipulate something with numb hands. Swaying aids in them gripping surfaces.
4. Both sexes of mantids sway to attract romantic partners.
1. Camouflage. Seems antithetical but it works. Most of the predatory birds have compromised stereoscopic vision. Sort of the opposite from predators like geckos and lizards in that the telencephalon, bundles of photo-receptors in the eyes enable birds to pinpoint locate objects very precisely - as in landing on a twig unerringly. The downside is this ability is compromised if the object is moving! We've all seen it. A bird pinpoints a place to land but klutzes out sometimes with a failed landing resulting in, as the aviation business calls it, a go around. Thus a mantid swaying. Makes it a perfect target for a wall gecko but geckos don't fly and have this so called blind spot in their brain functions that birds have.
2. Mantid eyesight is very poor. Short sighted. Go stare at a chain link fence. How far away is it? It's much easier to tell if you move your head around helping your brain calculate spatial coordinates. When a mantid sways it is able to see greater distances and get oriented with it's surroundings more accurately.
3. Better footing. Mantids have very poor sensory nerves - or none, in their extremities. Watching mantids land from a leap or flight they take a moment to get their footing back. Imagine trying to walk if your feet are numb or manipulate something with numb hands. Swaying aids in them gripping surfaces.
4. Both sexes of mantids sway to attract romantic partners.
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. A coworker of mine lost profuse amounts of blood when first introduced to them and despite a hefty amount of time working with the species, I still wince in pain every now and then... Really need to learn Navajo or some other language sufficiently unknown in Philly to allow me to swear profusely without being understood (sadly one area where spanish proficiency does little for me).