Praying Mantis: Re-Evolution Of Disruptive Camouflage Revealed In Horned Praying Mantises

Praying mantises are iconic insects named after their apparent prayer-like stance. More importantly though, mantises are known for their alien-like heads and camouflage abilities that put them at the top of the insect world. Praying mantises have huge compound eyes mounted on their triangle heads that give them a wide range of vision. This ability paired with their sneak attack hunting strategy makes it almost impossible for crickets, beetles, moths and other insects to escape from the grasp of a mantis' long, slender raptorial front legs.

To get a better sense of how the horned praying mantis blends in with its surroundings while waiting for the perfect opportunity to capture prey, researchers from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History traced the evolution of its distinctive camouflage, or cryptic, features. In doing so, researchers identified a new genus and new tribe of praying mantises, in addition to discovering that their disruptive camouflage evolved twice within the group, according to a news release. (Scroll to read more...)

"Finding that camouflage evolved twice in the horned mantises was surprising," Svenson added. "But even more amazing is how alike the two distantly related camouflaged groups really are and what that means for camouflage evolution in mantises as a whole."

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