Deep dive 3 min read
Flower Mantis: How the Orchid Mantis Looks Like a Flower
The orchid mantis doesn't hide among flowers – it pretends to be one, and insects fall for it. How the flower mantis disguise works, plus other flower mantises.
For more than a century, people assumed the orchid mantis hid among orchids, blending in with the petals. It turns out the truth is stranger. This mantis doesn’t hide among flowers at all. It pretends to be one, and insects find it more attractive than the real thing.
What is a flower mantis?
“Flower mantis” is the name for several praying mantises that look like blossoms. They’re colourful, often pink, white or yellow, with flat, petal-shaped parts on their legs or bodies. The orchid mantis, Hymenopus coronatus from the rainforests of Southeast Asia, is the most famous.
How does the orchid mantis look like a flower?
- Petal legs: its four walking legs have wide, curved lobes that look like petals.
- Flower colours: white to pink, and it can shift between shades over a few days.
- Stillness: it sits motionless for hours, sometimes swaying gently like a flower in a breeze.
Better than a real flower
In a study published in 2014, scientists set orchid mantises next to real flowers in Malaysia and counted visits. Pollinating insects such as bees approached the mantises more often than the flowers. The mantis isn’t copying any one particular flower. It’s more like a “super flower” that ticks every box insects look for.
That makes the orchid mantis a rare example of aggressive mimicry to attract prey, rather than camouflage to hide.
It isn’t hiding in the flowers. The insects are coming to it.
Strange but trueBaby orchid mantises don’t look like flowers at all. Newly hatched nymphs are red and black and look like a bad-tasting assassin bug, which keeps predators away until they’re old enough to turn pink.
Males vs. females
Female orchid mantises are around 2.4 to 2.8 in (6 to 7 cm) long. Males are less than half that size, plainer, and can fly much better. Only the females are true flower mimics, sitting and waiting for prey.
Other flower mantises
- Devil’s flower mantis: a large African mantis with bright red, white and blue “flower” parts that it flashes at predators.
- Spiny flower mantis: a small African mantis with a spiral “eye” pattern on its wings.
- Wandering violin mantis: a thin, leaf-like mantis from South Asia with flat lobes on its legs.
Can you keep an orchid mantis as a pet?
Yes, it’s one of the most popular pet mantises. It needs a warm, humid enclosure and live flying insects such as fruit flies and small flies. Expect a short life: about six to eight months in total for females.
See more masters of disguise in Animals With Amazing Camouflage.
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