South American boxer mantis
The South American boxer mantis looks just like a dry, curled-up dead leaf. Hiding like this keeps it safe and helps it sneak up on insects. The females cannot fly, but the smaller males have long wings.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
The female weighs about 400 to 500 milligrams. The male weighs less than half as much.
The female has short wings. When she lifts them, bright warning colours flash on her belly.
A female can lay up to 16 egg cases, one about every 8 days, with 25 to 35 eggs in each.
The babies hatch after 16 to 19 days and grow up in about two months, changing their skin 7 times.
When a male sits still, he holds his head and front legs so they look like the stalk of a dead leaf.
Most asked questions about South American boxer mantis
?Why does the boxer mantis look like a dead leaf?
Looking like a dead leaf helps it hide from hungry animals and sneak up on the insects it eats.
?How long does a boxer mantis live?
A female lives about 6 months. A male lives up to a month after he becomes an adult.
?Is the boxer mantis dangerous?
No. It has no sting or venom and is harmless to people.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Acanthops falcata
- Group
- Mantises
- Family
- Acanthopidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Mantodea > Acanthopidae
- Lives on
- South America
- Also known as
- South American dead leaf mantis
Where the facts come from
- Acanthops falcata (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 Arteaga-Blanco L.A, De La Parra-Guerra, A.C & Martínez-Hernández, N.J. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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