''Orthodera novaezealandiae'', known as the New Zealand mantis or the New Zealand praying mantis, is a

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 ...

which is, as both the scientific name and common names suggest,

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

and

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to New Zealand.
University of AucklandRamsay, G. W. 1990. Mantodea (Insecta) with a review of aspects of functional morphology and biology. ''Fauna of New Zealand'' 19, 96 pages. . Published 13 June 1990.
Purkayastha, M. 1999, ''Orthodera novaezealandiae'',

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Animal Diversity Web. Accessed July 27, 2008
Tree of Life
New Zealand Praying Mantis (exotic-pets.co.uk)

Description

''O. novaezealandiae'' nymph (biology), nymphs are pale, translucent green with a dark stripe running from head to end of

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the to ...

. As adults, they are bright green and grow to between 35 mm and 40 mm in length.(see note ) As in most mantis species,

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

means the female is larger. The New Zealand mantis has a triangular head with slightly oversized

compound eye A compound eye is a visual organ found in arthropods such as insects and crustaceans. It may consist of thousands of ommatidia, which are tiny independent photoreception units that consist of a cornea, lens, and photoreceptor cells which disti ...

s that give it excellent

binocular vision In biology, binocular vision is a type of vision in which an animal has two eyes capable of facing the same direction to perceive a single three-dimensional image of its surroundings. Binocular vision does not typically refer to vision where an ...

(although they do have a blind spot). Its

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

s differ from those of other species in the "development of the

archedictyon Archedictyon (from Greek language, Greek ''Arche'' meaning first, original, ancient, primitive, or most basic and ''dictyo-'' meaning Net (device), net or netlike, plural "archedictya") is a name given to a Hypothesis, hypothetical scheme of wing ...

and the absence of cross-

vein Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenat ...

s in the forewing". "A very active little Mantis", ''O. novaezealandiae'' is well adapted as a predator. Its specialized forelimbs are long and equipped with extremely sharp spikes to trap prey. Blue eyespots on the underside of the insect's forelegs helps in differentiating this species from '' Miomantis caffra'', an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

that became established in New Zealand during the 1970s. The

ootheca 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", f ...

of the New Zealand mantis has eggs arranged in two rows, quite different from the messier egg mass of ''Miomantis caffra''. Oothecae are generally arranged facing north towards the sun, on the warm faces of branches and tree trunks.

Ecology

Orthodera novaezealandiae nymph eating blowfly

''O. novaezealandiae'' prefer open, shrubby terrain where its similarity to

leaf A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characte ...

may be used as

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

ambush An ambush is a long-established military tactic in which a combatant uses an advantage of concealment or the element of surprise to attack unsuspecting enemy combatants from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind mo ...

prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

. It can reach high numbers in the branches of small manuka and kanuka trees in open meadow-like habitats where grass-dwelling prey such as small moths are abundant. It hides well from predators and is near or at the top of the

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

food chain A food chain is a linear network of links in a food web starting from producer organisms (such as grass or algae which produce their own food via photosynthesis) and ending at an apex predator species (like grizzly bears or killer whales), de ...

in its

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

. As an

endemic species Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

of New Zealand that eats pests and has a very large appetite, ''O. novaezealandiae'' is a

beneficial insect Beneficial insects (sometimes called beneficial bugs) are any of a number of species of insects that perform valued services like pollination and pest control. The concept of ''beneficial'' is subjective and only arises in light of desired outcome ...

to those involved in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

and they are used in many

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s. The New Zealand mantis is vulnerable to the use of pesticides, both directly and through the effects of a diminished food supply, and their

are sometimes attacked by

parasitic wasp Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later causi ...

s. Male ''O.novaezealandiae'' appear to be attracted to females of the introduced species ''M. caffra'', which can result in their fatality due to the sexually-cannibalistic behavior of the latter species. The only two species of mantis in New Zealand are this

native species In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

and the previously mentioned introduced species '' M. caffra'' discovered as established in the

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

suburb of

New Lynn New Lynn is a residential suburb in West Auckland, New Zealand, located 10 kilometres to the southwest of the Auckland city centre. The suburb is located along the Whau River, one of the narrowest points of the North Island, and was the locat ...

in 1978. ''O. novaezealandiae'' is taxonomically very close to, and has sometimes been considered

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organis ...

and synonymous with, the Australian species '' O. ministralis''. MANT Mantidae Orthodera novaezealandiae

Cultivation

The New Zealand mantis is bred in captivity.
Species Database: Mantodea Special care must be taken to prevent this small, quick-moving species from escaping. Nymphs are especially fast and can leap relatively far as well. It can be kept at room temperature () but does prefer warmth. Their enclosure should be sprayed with water a few times a week, and when they are young their enclosure should be kept at around 50%–60% humidity. Captive ''O. novaezealandiae'' can be fed on a diet of small cricket (insect), crickets and

flies Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced m ...

. Nymphs can be reared easily on fruitflies such as ''Drosophila melanogaster.''

References

Bibliography

*Ramsay, G.W., ''Fauna of New Zealand'' Number 19 Wellington, N.Z.: DSIR Publishing, 1990. *Patterson, Kathleen, J, "The Praying Mantis", ''Conservationist'', June 193 v47 n6 p30(6). *Preston-Mafham, Ken, ''Grasshoppers and Mantids of the World London'', UK.:Blandford 1990.

External links

''Orthodera novaezealandiae'' bibliography from the New Zealand Entomological Society
* ''Orthodera novaezealandiae'' discussed on RNZ ''

Critter of the Week ''Critter of the Week'' is a weekly RNZ National programme about endangered and neglected native plants and animals of New Zealand. Beginning in 2015, ''Critter of the Week'' is an approximately 15-minute discussion between Nicola Toki of the ...