''Archimantis latistyla'',Serville JGA (1839) ''Hist. Ins. Orth.'' 179 commonly known as the large brown mantis (also known as the bunny mantis or Australian ghost hopper mantis) is a species of

mantid Mantidae is one of the largest families in the order of praying mantises, based on the type species ''Mantis religiosa''; however, most genera are tropical or subtropical. Historically, this was the only family in the order, and many reference ...

native to Australia. The large brown mantis has two subspecies, a widespread subspecies and the stick mantis ghost from Bundabergs Turtle Sands. The stick mantis ghosts are not as aggressive as the widespread species but have a defense display used to make the mantis appear larger by flinging its front legs into the air and putting its head down along with its antennae. Large brown mantids are light brown with short winged female and a long winged male. The subspecies from Bundaberg is a pale cream white with a yellow and black eye in between the arms (one and a half times the size of the widespread subspecies). The large

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

mantis

female Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gamet ...

is short winged - her wings reach only half her

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 torso. ...

and she is not able to

fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

— but the long winged male has wings that cover the entire abdomen. They have two pairs of wings - the top pair are the wing covers and the bottom wings enable the mantis to fly.

Behavior

These large brown mantids are aggressive as adults and are known to attack large prey, such as small birds, and rarely, fish, frogs, and lizards. The large brown mantids are cannibalistic and are known to attack humans defensively if disturbed or not handled properly. They can also jump a short distance from a perched spot to escape enemies. Praying mantis in defense pose

Reproduction

The

male Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

stick mantis is smaller than the female and is about 90 mm long and can fly; the female cannot

and is about 110 mm long.

Reproduction Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life; each individual or ...

occurs when the male injects a single sperm at a time and can last up to half an hour. When mating, the male ejaculates on the female with a miniature penis which is then inserted into a tiny opening at the female's posterior. The male clips its abdomen to the female's egg holding compartment and then the male inserts a single sperm at a time.

References

External links

Mantids on geocities.com
2009-10-25)

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2676816 L Mantodea of Oceania Insects of Australia Insects described in 1838

Behavior

Reproduction

See also

References

External links