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Stagmomantis californica
Cleverly disguised among the leaves, this green praying mantis can swivel its head nearly 180 degrees to spot potential prey.
I can't say for certain. Stagmomantis limbata is also found in California and is somewhat similar in appearance. Did she open up her wings at any time? I was doing a bit of research to see if I could find more info on the differences between the two.
S. californica has purplish hindwings and dark stripes on the abdomen under the wings (you can see them if the mantis spreads its wings), and are larger in size and more common. Apparently they also have orangish coloration on t he inside of the forlegs
http://bugguide.net/node/view/688563/bgi...
S. limbata has transparent or yellowish hindwings, and tends to be more slender. Apparently, they often have a blue upper "lip" area but I don't think that is visible in your image.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Prayin...
http://bugguide.net/node/view/108387/bgi...
I hope this helps.
Of Special Note - The California Mantis is cannibalistic. During courtship, the female may decapitate the male for unkown reasons. This, however, does not prevent the male from continuing the mating process, as the headless male will proceed to mount the female and copulate. This is due to the male possessing nerves controlling this behavior in its abdominal ganglia.
http://www.freeinfosociety.com/site.php?...
These make excellent pets. People usualy have one sitting on their shoulder while reading a newspaper. They are almost like cats in their temperament,and they are very clean.
wow,you must be trill,i saw hundreds in my life,they are very common in portugal,i never spott one but now that you found this one i'll trie to find one to:)the triangular head is completly alien,i never imagine that they could be pets:)people are amazing,althougth i dont like very much the idea of have wild animals for pets it's amazing the human capacity to love all kind of life,animal and vegetable to :)
Antonio,this is actually only the second time in my entire life that I saw a praying mantis.
The first one i saw was on a road. I told a passerby that we should pick it up and put it on the side before it gets run over. His reply was that we should stomp them because they are no good and they bite.
I was totally fascinated by it's triangular head.
These are very beneficial and are the Lions of the animal world.Pest control companies use it for natural pest control
This on was pregnant. She was in a bush where people passed by. So i lifted her on a leaf and gently put her on the bush in my backyard.
People have praying mantis as pets. These are very intelligent and misunderstood
incredible wath animal can acheaved,these guy's are realy beautiful surviver machines(depending on the observer,i think most part of the insects dont agreed with me:),a perfect animal and a excelent photo Emma
Thank you Antonio. Yes it is the only animal with one year. The ear is embedded deep inside the thorax or chest cavity. it 's one ear can hear significantly more than two human ears combined!.
Mantids detect attacking bats by picking up the mammals' high-frequency or ultrasonic chirps, so clearly the insects aren't deaf, even though they seem earless. most praying mantis species have single ears deep in the centers of their thoraxes, or chest segments. "The ear doesn’t look like any other ear," says Yager, who is studying the auditory systems of insects. "They're the only animals known to have just one ear."
Scientists long thought that praying mantises were deaf, but now biologists know that the insects have a single ear that enables them to pick up sounds far beyond the range of human hearing
The praying mantis is named for its prominent front legs, which are bent and held together at an angle that suggests the position of prayer. The larger group of these insects is more properly called the praying mantids. Mantis refers to the genus mantis, to which only some praying mantids belong.
By any name, these fascinating insects are formidable predators. They have triangular heads poised on a long "neck," or elongated thorax. Mantids can turn their heads 180 degrees to scan their surroundings with two large compound eyes and three other simple eyes located between them.
Typically green or brown and well camouflaged on the plants among which they live, mantis lie in ambush or patiently stalk their quarry. They use their front legs to snare their prey with reflexes so quick that they are difficult to see with the naked eye. Their legs are further equipped with spikes for snaring prey and pinning it in place.
Moths, crickets, grasshoppers, flies, and other insects are usually the unfortunate recipients of unwanted mantid attention. However, the insects will also eat others of their own kind. The most famous example of this is the notorious mating behavior of the adult female, who sometimes eats her mate just after—or even during—mating. Yet this behavior seems not to deter males from reproduction.
Females regularly lay hundreds of eggs in a small case, and nymphs hatch looking much like tiny versions of their parents.
Spotted on Mar 19, 2012
Submitted on Mar 19, 2012
