Can you hear better than a Praying Mantis?

Their elongated bodies may or may not have wings, but all Mantodea have enlarged forelegs which are adapted for catching and gripping prey, they are a formidable creature.

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Mantises are a type of insect that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 types. Mantises are found across the world in temperate and tropical habitats. They have triangular heads with bulging eyes which are supported on flexible necks.

Photo by Elisa Kennemer / Unsplash

Their upright posture, while remaining stationary with forearms folded, has led to the common name 'The Praying Mantis', because of course they look like they are praying, for their supper perhaps!

Mantises are mostly an ambush predator, they usually live for about a year, the adults lay their eggs in the autumn, then die :-(

Mantis fossils are very rare, but the oldest found date back to around 140 million years ago from the cold wilds of Siberia!

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So why are Connevans, the worlds leading supplier of Deaf Equipmemt, rambling on about the Praying Mantis I hear you ask? Well it's simple, they have unusual hearing - they have just one ear, located between their legs and they hear in Mono. Every other animal on Planet Earth which hears, hears in Stereo (a few don't hear at all, but lets stick to the ones which do).

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Your next questions is obviously 'Why?' well not even the largest brained scientists really know the answer, but the best bet is natural selection. There were probably hundreds or even thousands of creatures which heard in Mono and with the exception of the Praying Mantis, they have all died out & become extinct. An animal hearing in stereo has a better chance of hearing it's prey, so it will chase in the right direction for dinner. An animal hearing in stereo will also hear which side it's predator is coming from, so it won't run stright into the mouth of it's enemy, a frog perhaps, it will run away.

Photo by Stephanie LeBlanc / Unsplash

So our message to everone is don't be a Praying Mantis, look after your hearing and your hearing aids and everything you need is available from Connevans.