The Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) is a praying mantis that is one of six species found in North America.
Sexual cannibalism occurs in roughly one quarter of all intersexual encounters of this species, though specimens of this species will engage in cannibalism regardless of age or gender if the opportunity presents itself.
Carolina mantis oothecae can be purchased in garden supply centers as a means of biological control of pest insects. It is the state insect of South Carolina.
Read more about Carolina Mantis: Range, Description, Synonyms
Famous quotes containing the words carolina and/or mantis:
“The great problem of American life [is] the riddle of authority: the difficulty of finding a way, within a liberal and individualistic social order, of living in harmonious and consecrated submission to something larger than oneself.... A yearning for self-transcendence and submission to authority [is] as deeply rooted as the lure of individual liberation.”
—Wilfred M. McClay, educator, author. The Masterless: Self and Society in Modern America, p. 4, University of North Carolina Press (1994)
“The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole lurking behind it.”
—Chinese proverb.