Burying mantis

The burying mantis is a big praying mantis from Australia. It can be grey, brown or green, often with speckled wings. On its front legs it has little pale bumps that make it easy to recognise.

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Fun facts
It got its name because the mothers sometimes bury their egg cases in the ground. That is quite rare for a mantis.
Both the males and the females can grow up to 7 centimetres long.
Its wings often have a mottled, speckled pattern that helps it hide.
Most asked questions about Burying mantis
?Why is it called the burying mantis?
Because the females sometimes bury their egg cases underground, although they do not do it often.
?How big is the burying mantis?
Up to about 7 centimetres long, about as long as a grown-up's finger.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Sphodropoda tristis
- Group
- Mantises
- Family
- Mantidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Mantodea > Mantidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
Where the facts come from
- Burying mantis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Graham Wise from Brisbane, Australia. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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