image credit: Nitsirk Eel
image credit: Igor Siwanowicz, via photo.net
image credit: Igor Siwanowicz, via photo.net
image credit: wilmott.com
image credit: macrojunkie.deviantart.com
image credit: earleydaysyet.blogspot.comHabitat: Malaysia, Indonesian and Sumatran rain forests
Status: No conservation concerns
Orchid Praying Mantises are tricky. Very tricky. Maybe even… too tricky? You see if I ever go to Malaysia, Indonesia and Sumatra you should know that my #1 priority would be to find an Orchid Mantis. But here’s my dilemma… it blends in SO well that I’m not sure I could ever possibly find one!!I mean look at this thing, its walking legs look exactly like petals and the body coloration will tend to match wherever the Orchid Mantis was raised. Meaning, if it was found on a pink orchid it will be pink and if on a white orchid white.
It IS an orchid. So like I said… it’s verging on too tricky for me. Even as babies (or nymphs) the Orchid Mantises are masters of disguise. Young nymphs resemble ants with black bodies and red-ish legs. So they transform from ants into orchids? That really is an Ugly-Duckling-To-Swan story if I’ve ever heard one!
//youtube.com/watch?v=QdfGCscTMak
