#mediterranean mantis

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Mediterranean mantis - Iris oratoria

By Wirestock, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo

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A mediterranean mantis (Iris oratoria) in Sardegna, Italy

by David

[onenicebugperday]

First, I want to say I love this blog so much! Second, I got some praying mantids for my garden and I’m IN LOVE. They are so stinking cute and I love they way it looks like they are looking at you? I wonder if they actually see me when I am looking at them, because they move their little faces to look at mine, it seems. They also sway when I look at them and I don’t know if they are trying to fight or if they want to trick me into thinking they are a leaf? Either way, great friends. I love them and I wanted to share.

P.S. One has a hunchback and I named him Quasimodo. Idk if he’s okay, but he’s been hanging around for a few weeks on my mint plant and he’s still kicking!

Thank you! They sure are adorable. The "pupils" you see in their eyes when they seem to be looking right at you are actually pseudopupils and not a true pupil - it's a trick of the light on their compound eyes. BUT they can certainly see you either way, especially if they're following you with their head. They're ambush predators and need to see to be able to catch their prey. The rocking back and forth is a way to blend in with foliage, definitely, but it's also thought that they use it as a way to distinguish things in their field of vision and where things lie in relation to the mantis itself. If they're feeling feisty generally they'll raise their arms up in their defensive position to seem bigger.

A cute and angry friend to admire for fun:

And you can see their pseudopupils, too! Mediterranean mantis, photo by hailey_adler

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Mediterranean Mantis (Iris oratoria) female in defensive display, Spain

Photographer: Konrad Wothe

[still-godless-david]

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Found this half-inch, baby male Mediterranean mantis before the first dust storm of the year blew in. It seemed to want to play peekaboo. I hope he is ok.

(photo by S Suzuki-Martinez)