''Amantis nawai'' is a small

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

praying mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They ha ...

native to eastern Asia.

Description

*Females: , micropterous *Males: in length, micropterous or macropterous

Distribution

It is found in China, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan; in Japan on

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

, and

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

.Jeon JB, Lee SH and Lee SM. 1999. Notes on the praying mantids (Mantodea) in Korea. Insecta Koreana 16(2): 225-229.

Habitat

They are found on the forest floor and low trees, where they eat insects such as ants. Often found around ''

Machilus thunbergii ''Machilus thunbergii'' (syn. ''Persea thunbergii''), the Japanese bay tree, red machilus, or tabunoki, is a widespread species of flowering plant in the family Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true l ...

'' and ''

Castanopsis sieboldii ''Castanopsis sieboldii'', also known as the Itajii chinkapin or Itajii, is a species of evergreen tree that lives in subtropical eastern Asia. This is a climax species that is commonly found in the Japanese temperate rainforest. Specimens are al ...

'', and other lush vegetation shaded by broadleaf evergreen trees and large rocks.

Oothecae An ootheca (pl. ''oothecae'' ) is a type of egg mass made by any member of a variety of species including mollusks (such as ''Turbinella laevigata''), mantises, and cockroaches. The word is a Latinized combination of ''oo-'', meaning "egg", fro ...

are found on rocks and tree bark.

References

nawai Mantodea of Asia Insects of China Insects of Japan Insects of Korea Insects of Sri Lanka Insects of Taiwan Invertebrates of Korea Insects described in 1908 {{Mantidae-stub