Flower mantis

The flower mantises include the orchid mantis, Hymenopus coronatus, which mimics a rainforest orchid of southeast Asia to lure its prey, pollinator insects.^[1]

Flower mantises are those species of praying mantises that mimic flowers.^[2] Their coloration is an example of aggressive mimicry, a form of camouflage in which a predator's colours and patterns lure prey.^[3] The flower mantises are not a natural group with a single ancestor (a clade), but most of the species are in the family Hymenopodidae. Their behaviours vary, but typically involve climbing a plant, and then staying still until a prey insect comes within range (ambush predation). Many species of flower mantises are popular as pets.

The orchid mantis, Hymenopus coronatus, of Southeast Asia mimics an orchid flower. It remains motionless on the plant until prey arrives; the same camouflage also protects it from predators.^[4] In his 1940 book Adaptive Coloration in Animals, Hugh Cott quotes an account by Nelson Annandale, saying that the mantis hunts on the flowers of the "Straits Rhododendron", Melastoma polyanthum. The nymph has what Cott calls "special alluring coloration" (aggressive mimicry), where the animal itself is the "decoy". The insect is pink and white, with flattened limbs with "that semiopalescent, semicrystalline appearance that is caused in flower petals by a purely structural arrangement of liquid globules or empty cells". The mantis climbs up the twigs of the plant and stands imitating a flower and waits for its prey patiently. It then sways from side to side, and soon various small flies land on and around it, attracted by the small black spot on the end of its abdomen, which resembles a fly. When a larger dipteran fly, as big as a house fly, landed nearby, the mantis at once seized and ate it.^[5]^[6] More recently (2015), the orchid mantis's coloration has been shown to be an effective mimic of tropical flowers, and it has been demonstrated to attract pollinators (as if it were a flower) and then to catch them.^[7]

Example species[]

The flower mantises include these species, many of which are popularly kept as pets:

Flower mantises
Species	Common names	Distribution	Notes
Acromantis formosana	Taiwan flower mantis^[8]	Taiwan	Nymphs are dark brown, flanged and spined, highly cryptic on dead leaves. Adults have green wings.
Blepharopsis mendica	Small devil's flower mantis^[9] Devil's flower mantis Thistle mantis^[10] Egyptian flower mantis Arab mantis^[11]	North Africa, Canary Islands	Deimatic display with head and thorax rotated to one side.
Chloroharpax modesta	Nigerian flower mantis^[12]	West Africa	Adult female has ocellated eyespots on wings. Aggressively hunts prey larger than itself.
Creobroter gemmatus and other species in genus Creobroter	Flower mantises	South and Southeast Asia	Fly strongly on long wings. Eyespots on forewings, varying colours. Deimatic display of bright hindwings is flashed to startle predators.
Gongylus gongylodes	Wandering violin mantis Ornate mantis Indian rose mantis^[13]	South Asia	Up to 11 cm; males can fly.
Harpagomantis tricolor	African false flower mantis^[14]	Southern Africa	A colourful ambush hunter that waits motionless on flowering plants. Length about 3 cm.
Hymenopus coronatus	Orchid mantis^[4] Walking flower mantis^[15]	Southeast Asia	Hunts flies on "Straits Rhododendron", Melastoma polyanthum.
Idolomantis diabolica	[Giant] devil's flower mantis^[16]^[17]	Central and East Africa	Large insect, females as much as 13 cm. Brightly coloured deimatic display in red, white, blue, purple and black.
Parymenopus davisoni	Yellow flower mantis,^[18] Davison's mantis	Southeast Asia	A slender yellow mantis, the female with three dark spots on the wings
Pseudoharpax virescens	Gambian spotted-eye flower mantis^[19]	East, Central, and West Africa	Adult female has eye spots on her abdomen.
Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii	Spiny flower mantis Bulls-eye mantis #9 mantis^[20]	South and East Africa	Effective aggressive mimic of flowers, can handle prey much larger than itself, deimatic display with spread wings to show off "number 9" eyespots, variable coloration
Pseudocreobotra ocellata	Spiny flower mantis Spiny flower praying mantis African ocellated mantis^[21]^[22]	West, Central and Southern Africa	Like P. wahlbergii.
Theopropus elegans	Banded flower mantis Asian boxer mantis^[23]	Southeast Asia	White stripe on forewings. Colours can vary.