Mantids are ambush predators that keep still and wait for other insects to approach before striking and feeding on them. Like other mantids, the female mantis Harpagomantis discolor shown here is camouflaged and remains motionless, or rocks slightly from side to side to side as if swaying in the breeze, all the while keeping its forelegs folded in a manner reminiscent of prayer. When another insect comes close, the mantis snatches it and holds it in a pincer-like grip while devouring it alive. Mantids are just one of the arthropod orders included in The New Encyclopedia of Insects and their Allies (Oxford University Press, £25), edited by Christopher O'Toole.