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THE forelegs of the praying mantis are unique for more than just their pious appearance. Their versatility is remarkable – the mantis uses them for walking, capturing prey and hanging on to it during a meal. They have now inspired a robot.

Ramón Cardona of the InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico has built that mimics the design of the mantis leg. Like its natural counterpart, it should give a robot the ability to walk, grab objects and manipulate them using the same limb.

The mantis’s forelegs have a spiky claw near each tip that aids in trapping and grasping its prey. The claw can be stowed to allow a rod-like attachment called a tarsus to extend, upon which the insect walks.

Cardona built a multi-jointed leg that worked similarly: walking, trapping objects, and even toying with them. A rotatable hip joint gives the device the dexterity to perform more than mere back-and-forth walking motions, while an ankle joint allows the limb to .

Cardona presented the work in May at the on Marco Island. He plans to perfect a gripper for the leg and then make a full praying-mantis-inspired robot.