I had no idea this creature existed, so it’s a bit of a thrill to see it for the first time. The photo below shows two specimens of the conehead mantis, Empusa pennata, endemic to southern Europe and Turkey. This lovely photograph is from Project Noah. The blobs on the branch are part of the plant, not the insect’s legs. But the insect still looks like part of the branch.
Here are two more photos of coneheads, the first from Cosmos. This surely could be a model for a nefarious Alien-like space creature:
Do you suppose it consumes mass quantities of insects?
And another, from Trek Nature, showing the variability in color. The page adds this (notice the Latin name for the European praying mantis):
This species of mantis, although similar in size to the common European Praying mantis (Mantis religiosa), is easily distinguished by the protrusion from its crown. Both male and females, even from first hatching carry this tall extension giving them a very alien appearance. They live in areas that are warm and dry and use their cryptic colouring of either greens and pinks or various shades of brown to keep them hidden from predators. The female may grow to a length of 10cm while the male is shorter and slimmer. The male has distinctive ‘feather’ type antennae as shown on the image above.
There are several videos of this creature on YouTube; all show it moving erratically, which may be a form of crypsis, mimicking a branch blown by irregular winds. That was one theory, which was mine, but then I remembered that some chameleons move erratically in that way as well. Perhaps readers have some suggestions; I’m sure there’s discussion about this movement in the scientific literature.
That has to be the strangest thing on the internet today 🙂
Isn’t it wonderful?
Those are cool. I suppose ‘Mantis religiosa‘ might refer to the papal-like head gear. Of course, all must bow down to the aptly named Idolomantis diabolica!
Wow! He (she?) even struck a cool pose for the camera.
I prefer Mantis regia because I think they look more regal than religious but I suppose that does match their praying.
They look like they were born to rule the galaxy. If only they were a little bit taller.
I think religiosa is quite apt because they really do seem to adopt the classic praying-person posture although of course what they are really doing is preying not praying!
They are fabulous creatures.
My dad once observed a mantis killing bees for no purpose (or so it seemed). The mantis positioned itself next to an opening that bees were exiting. As each bee exited one after another, the mantis would kill it & throw it on the ground. It would wait patiently for another bee then another bee. It was interesting behaviour. Was the mantis enjoying just killing the bees? Or was there some other programed in reason for the mantis to behave in such a way? The are very interesting creatures & though I never pick them up (you can get them to walk on you if you are careful with them) because those big jaws hurt if you annoy the insect & it bites you, I have an affection for them & try to make sure they are not disturbed or hurt.
My son kept a mantis (which he named Perry) in a little cage for several weeks. I think Perry walked over all of us and never bit us. Can’t remember what we fed him, but we finally let him loose.
This is standard role-playing game technique: you lurk near the dungeon entrance, picking off monsters one by one, until the coast is clear and you can go in and loot undisturbed.
Fantastic!
Whoa – amazing little creature, as are mantids in general.
Why nefarious? I think they’d be much more interesting as a race if they were quiet contemplatives, philosophers and artists. =D
It’s the way they look around the eyes – they have scheme-y eyes!
Patiently contemplating their takeover of humankind. May Ceiling Cat protect us.
I love how they’re both looking at the camera. Like, excuse me, we’re talking here.
I think they were looking at the intruder to place it on a scale that runs from “0” to “lunch”.
Mepps! Those are some beautiful critters! I think mantids are especially appealing (to me, anyway) because they look so much like little people.
OMGosh….. that is so cool. What an amazing being.
That first photo looks like a still from an animation!
b&
The upright position shown by these wondrous critters in the first photo intrigued me so that I did some quick research and was amazed, simply gobsmacked that apparently there are already ‘insectoid beings that have features similar to the Praying Mantis insects of Earth, but they stand upright and are at least 8-9 feet tall.’
More info: http://soulsalight.com/mantis-ets/
🙂
The light green and pink colouring of the one in the third photo is not only clever but exceedingly fashionable.
About moving erratically: There’s a trick in wildlife photography to move closer to your subject without spooking it — act like you’re looking for your lost wallet. By no means should you move directly towards the subject. Maybe that’s what’s going on.
🐲
“mass quantities”
LOL!
Bonus points for pop culture reference, even, or even because, it’s over the heads of the younger readers.
Also wondered how many would pick up on that one, altho they ought to since they’re re-running those.
Is that the mantis with the flaxen crown in the video?
Clearly this is an alien-mantis hybrid.
There is no possible other explanation. Giorgio Tsoukalos tells me so.
All pics extremely cool; but that first one is unbelievably awesome!
In the second one, we see the Bishop praying before selecting which of the sacrificial victims will be invited to his dinner table tonight. The suspense is palpable while the congregation waits for his choice to be revealed. He lingers over the delicious anticipation.
A slight side to side movement may be about using optical parallax to gauge distance to a prey item but I don’t think that explains the erratic jiggling shown in the video. Crypsis may be a better explanation although in the case of the coneheads I’d guess that remaining still on the twig would hide them best as they would then just move with the twig itself as it is rocked by the wind.
A mantis typically stays very still as well. If you photograph them, you can get right up on the poor things & they will stay motionless save for perhaps looking at where you are moving but very, very slowly.
Right, because regular coneless mantis don’t look alien at all!