An insect that appears to be praying in public at a shrine or temple, the PRAYING MANTIS, but also seems to describe the service providers who worked at shrines and temples of the shaman preying on clients:
　「The closest relatives of mantises are the termites [that 'eat wood, woody'] and cockroaches [live on detritus, mate in clusters, some species can reproduce without a male]…. Mantises have two grasping, spiked forelegs ('raptorial legs') [the no-longer-integrated feet with bone splinters] in which prey items are caught and held securely. …The prothorax is also flexibly articulated, allowing for a wide range of movement of the head and forelimbs while the remainder of the body remains more or less immobile. The articulation of the neck is also remarkably flexible. …[T]he female is much heavier than the male, has much shorter wings, and rarely takes flight if she is capable of it at all. …Species that are predominantly ambush predators camouflage themselves and spend long periods standing perfectly still. They largely wait for their prey to stray within reach, but most mantises chase tempting prey if it strays closely enough. In pure ambush mode a mantis lashes out at remarkable speed when a target does get within reach, details of the speed and mode of attack varying with the species. A mantis catches prey items and grips them with grasping, spiked forelegs. The mantis usually holds its prey with one [limb] between the head and [neck], and the other on the abdomen. Then, if the prey does not resist, the mantis eats it alive. …Mantises, like stick insects, show rocking behaviour in which the insect makes rhythmic, repetitive side-to-side movements. …90% of the predatory species of mantis participate in sexual cannibalism. The female may begin feeding by biting off the male's head (as they do with regular prey), and if mating has begun, the male's movements may become even more vigorous in its delivery of sperm. …[H]ungry females generally attracted fewer males than those who were well fed. The act of dismounting is one of the most dangerous times for males during copulation…. The nymph and adult insect are structurally quite similar, except that the nymph is smaller and has no wings or functional genitalia. …The nymphs have voracious appetites and typically cannibalize each other if they cannot find an adequate supply of [other] small insects.」
　　[　https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis 2015-02-07　]　
　All this just proves the truth of「you gotta start young if you're gonna stick it out」[ Firesign Theatre ].

Modern definitions (that generally disregard history) …excluding politically incorrect concepts and other meanings deemed offensive today; may list only pigeonholed definitions, euphemisms, or meaningless mnemonics)
Chinese: praying mantis
Unihan extended: mantis
EDRDG: mantis