Mantises are an order ('Mantodea') of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 430 genera in 15 families.

Mantises have large, triangular heads with a beak-like snout and mandibles. They have two bulbous compound eyes, three small simple eyes, and a pair of antennae. The articulation of the neck is also remarkably flexible; some species of mantis can rotate their heads nearly 180°. In all species apart from the genus 'Mantoida, the prothorax, which bears the head and forelegs, is much longer than the other two thoracic segments. The prothorax is also flexibly articulated, allowing for a wide range of movements of the head and forelimbs while the remainder of the body remains more or less immobile.

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