#conehead mantis

[onenicebugperday]

Mediterranean conehead mantis, Empusa pennata, Empusidae

Photographed in France by Bernard DuPont

[artefarte]

Hermes loves bugs <3

"Hermes, I thought you were fine with bugs..."

"I'm fine with butterflies. Does that look like a fucking butterfly to you!?!?!?"

(It's a friend-shaped Mediterranean conehead mantis, Hermes. Be nice to her.)

For @kitzeatsbugs :))

Hermes and Crocus designs from my webcomic, Flowers for the Messenger God

[iwantacoffee19]

IIIIITS ANTONS

ANT

FACT

TIME

but it’s mantis’s this time

Conehead mantis’s are pretty, and unlike many other insects that survive winter as eggs, they survive as nymphs (basically baby mantis) and reach adulthood when it’s spring time. Both male and female have the unique dragon-like horns on their head, but males a more feathery one that’s used to detect pheromones from the ladies. They’re also considered one of Europes most unique insects and are known as “pink alien of the insect world.” It’s pretty rare to see these lil guys in captivity since they’re harder to take care of compared to other species of mantis. Even though people will say conehead mantis’s are technically less of a cannibal than other mantis’ having more than one in one environment can stress both of them out. What makes them more complicated is they require specific temperature, humidity, and a winter cooling period. They are all very fragile and easily stressed. Conehead mantis’s also eats flying insects and lives in warm, dry places.

Thanks Anton!! I didn't realize they'd be so difficult to keep in captivity, though it makes sense. I feel like mantises are one of those animals that should just be wild haha as cool as they are. They're so gorgeous!! My second favorite mantis :D (first being the orchid mantis :))

Imma drop a few pics of the conehead mantis below this read more, just cuz I think more people should see how rad they look!!

Warning, bug pics below!!

[hyzenthlayroseart]

I saw this Tweet earlier and had to draw something based on it lmao.

The Glinda bug is a Conehead Mantis and the Elphaba bug is a bagworm moth larva (the "hat" in that photo from the og Tweet isn't the bug itself, bagworm caterpillars make casings out of different materials so that's what we're seeing in the picture, the larva's underneath it. Also real bagworm moth larva aren't green, but I made her green anyways because, well, it's Elphaba lol).

[ultimatebugpoll]

ROUND 2 OF THE TUMBLR INSECT POLL

Mantodea (mantises) VS Coleoptera (beetles and weevils)

Mantodea

Coleoptera

Voting ended onMar 12, 2023

REMEMBER youre voting for your favorite OVERALL GROUP OF INSECTS not the individual species pictured above

[roxierusalka]

thinking about Her again

[drowsydragontastemaker]

[ID: traditional pen drawing of mantids on orange paper. In lighter ink are two rows of rudimentary European mantis heads. In darker ink are three large conehead mantis heads with heavy shading. There are small doodles of mantis antennae and full body conehead mantids between the three main heads. On the right side of the paper it says “June 13th 2024.” In the top lefthand corner of the paper is the artists signature, a black dragon and the letters DDTM enclosed in a gray box. Beneath the signature is the word mantidae in all caps. End ID.]

Obsessed with conehead mantids right now. I’m thinking of transferring this drawing over to procreate!

[rjzimmerman]

Tell me this isn't an alien invader. I've seen weird creatures, but I think this one wins the award. Its name is impusa pennata, or the conehead mantis. It's a species of praying mantis native to the Mediterranean Region. It can be found in Portugal, Spain, southern France, Italy and on the mediterranean coasts of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Turkey and Egypt. Here's a better photo to convince you it's an alien: