Animal Unique | Orchid Mantis | Orchid Mantis is a wonderful mantis with lobes on his legs that look like flower pentals. Although this species does not live on orchids, it looks particularly good as a flower or orchid. This variety is very popular and loved for its beautiful bright colors and beautiful camouflage. Orchid Mantis is a mantis from Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Sumatran rainforests. These mantises thrive in moist, warm areas of South East Asian rainforests. These mantis can be found on papaya trees, orchids, or frangipani trees with flowers.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Mantodea
Family: Hymenopodidae
Genus: Hymenopus
Species: H. coronatus
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Mantodea
Family: Hymenopodidae
Genus: Hymenopus
Species: H. coronatus
The Orchid Mantis is white with soft or bright pink accents. Some individuals are completety white, others are completely pink and still others are a bit of a mix. A Orchid Mantis can change color in a matter of days, depending on environmental conditions such as humidity and light. This species has lobes on his legs that flower pentals mimic. Its natural habitat is composed of white and pink flowers in the bushes and small trees. In this way the Orchid Mantis can remain unseen for predators such as birds and at the same time cope pollinating insects attracted by the flowers.
The first instar of the Orchid Mantis is dark orange with black legs and a black head. After the first moulting the nymphs are white with pink accents. The amount of pink may vary greatly between individuals, but also during the life of an individual. The male and female differences in appearance, the adult male has white wings with a pink-orange body, almost no lobes on the legs and long wings, while the female can vary in color and has large lobes on the legs. On her back, the female has a green spot, while the man does not have this green spot, but a brown spot.
When threatened, the Orchid Mantis either tries to confuse the predator, or scared. When lifted into the air, they are cruel, trying to bite everything within reach. Their enemies include lizards, geckos, jumping spiders, toads, birds, rodents, bats and shrews. Orchid Mantis is a quiet kind of praying mantis. Usually she keeps waiting for a prey. Sometimes it will chase after prey if they detect. Adult males can be very skittish and hyperactive. The adult male will often try to fly away when disturbed.
Because this species lives on flowers, but mainly eats flying insects in nature. It is advisable to include them flying insects in captivity. In captivity the Orchid Mantis diet consists mainly of fruit flies, but they will eat other small insects. Adults will eat anything they can catch, this includes small lizards, bees without stingers, house flies, butterflies, moths and other non-venomous flying insects. Although in the first place meat-eaters, orchid mantises have been observed eating small pieces of banana, this behavior is seen when the Orchid Mantis the vitamin intake to balance, by means of the juices of the banana.
The females of Orchid Mantis are much larger than the males. It is therefore very important that the men and women in time so you can make adjustments to their development time. If you want male and femal who were born around the same time to mate, you need to slow the development of men. If you do not, the males are already deceased from old age, while the females are not yet mature. Once you know what the males and females, you should start treating them differently. The females have to grow much more, to reach their large adult size, so they should as much as they want to eat every day.
Animal Unique