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INSECT FACTS |
Identification
The Purple-winged Mantis is a large mantis with a long narrow body. The wings are purple or dark brown with green margins. The head and body are light brown, and the eyes are green. The thorax is long and the forelegs are spiny like other mantis species. They are well camouflaged which helps them avoid predators and ambush prey. They often hunt amongst shrubs or tall grasses where they hang from their hind pairs of legs and pounce on passing prey with their spiny forelegs. Both males and females are winged and can fly.
Other Names
Australian Mantid, Purplewinged Mantid
Size
Length to 100mm
Habitat
They are often seen on shrubs, grasses or tree trunks in woodland, parks and gardens
Food
The Purple-winged mantis feeds mainly on insects but sometimes catches small vertebrate animals such as small frogs and small skinks. They can be cannibalistic.
Breeding
The female Purple-winged Mantis lays her eggs in an egg case called an ootheca. The ootheca is about 25mm long and 15mm wide. The young mantis hatch looking like miniature wigless versions of the adults. They are about 6mm long and brown with a purple stripe along the back. The mantis oothecae are often parasitized by Podagrion parasitic wasps.
Classification
| Class: | Insecta | | Order: | Mantodea | | Family: | Mantidae | | Genus: | Tenodera | | Species: | australasiae | | Common Name: | Purple-winged Mantis |
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