Nun | Facts & Information

Origin

This name is given after the position of the first pair of appendages. Easy to care for and most common in terrariums are: Chinese nun, originally from China, introduced to North America around 1895, European nun and Carolina nun.

Nun meets in meadows, steppes, at the edge of forests. As spreading areas, nuns are found in Europe, Asia, to Siberia and the Far East, Africa. The species has been introduced to North America and Australia.

Nun Food

The nun's food is represented by other insects, such as: crickets, grasshoppers, flies, even cockroaches.

Features Nun

The nun's head is triangular, very mobile, being the only insect that can move its head 180 degrees. The mouthpiece is of the masticatory type. It has two antennae that are filiform. The legs are well developed, the forelegs have spines.

The forewings are narrow, weakly pergamentous, and the hindwings are broad, membranous, while the hindwings are narrow below the forewings.

The elongated abdomen, consisting of segments, ends with two short and articulated cerci. The body is usually green, but can also be yellow or brown. Some species reach up to 15 cm.

Easy to care for and most common in terrariums are:

The Chinese nun (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis), native to China, was introduced to North America around 1895. The Chinese nun shows a dark green stripe on the sides of the wings. In a terrarium, the temperature of the environment should be , for this species, between 20 and 26 degrees C. It is a fairly large species and easy to grow.

The European nun (Mantis religiosa) is one of the most common species in the order Mantodea, native to southern Europe. It was also introduced to america in 1899, with a shipment of medicinal herbs. The specific color is green or brown. It is easily recognized by the two black spots on the first pair of appendages.

The Carolina nun (Stagmomantis carolina) is a species native to the southern United States and one of six species found in North America. It has a color of a dirty brown or a dirty green, using these colors for camouflage in the environment.

Breeding Nun

The nun develops through incomplete metamorphosis. Immediately after fertilization, the female lays eggs consisting of 50 to 400 eggs. The female lays eggs even if she has not been fertilized. The eggs are surrounded by a foamy mass, which then becomes consistent, forming a chitinous capsule called an ooteca.

The larvae hatch from the ooteca the following spring and are distinguished from adults by both size and some morphological peculiarities. After four to six moults (depending on the species) the larva turns into an adult insect.

At maturity, in freedom, only 4-5 larvae reach. Therefore, if you want to buy a nun, it is good to buy from a breeder or by ordering on the internet from verified sources, they are endangered species.

Both adults and larvae are specialized predators, eating only certain species of insects. during mating, she devours her partner, ensuring the perpetuation of the species.

The threat of death does not cut the sexual appetite of males, which in the decapitation type copulate more vigorously, due to the nervous reflex triggered by the act of cannibalism. The average life of a nun is 2 years in captivity. Those in freedom usually die in winter.

The determination of the Sexes is made by the segments on the abdomen, so a female has between 5-6 segments and a male between 7-8 segments. Another criterion for determining would be the shape of the abdomen which in females is more round.

The Nun is also famous for decimating harmful insects.