The orchid mantis

By Francesco Tomasinelli

The orchid mantis from Indonesia and Malaysia, Hymenopus coronatus,  is one of the most beautiful insect in the world and a symbol of complex and perfect camouflage in animal kingdom.
Every part of mantis life involves deception. When born it is a little orange-black insect, mimicking poisonous bugs of the forest. Later it turns into a wonderful whitish-pink insect that lives on orchids,  copying various parts of the flower. and ambushing visiting insect. Sometimes it can also hunt simulating to be a flower on leaves and branches: curious pollinating insects are easily captured. Even reproduction involves deception: the male is far smaller than female, so it can close to the aggressive partner without being killed, as often occurs in mantis world.

 


 
 

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News

16-12-2011 Two new short stories in "Strange but true" with tiger beetles and devil flower mantis. Updated Quirimbas Islands reportage 

30-4-2011 New scientific exhibition Predatori del microcosmo at Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, until 27-6-2011 

25-02-2011 New photo gallery on fireflies, Il ritorno delle lucciole.

03-02-2011 New scientific exhibition Copioni e copiati for Arte e Scienza in Piazza 2011, in Bologna, until 13-02-2011.

08-1-2011 New photo gallery on Iran and persian architecture

05-12-2010 New scientific exhibition Predatori del microcosmo at Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali, Trento, until 13-2-2011 

29-11-2010 New gallery Professione naturalista, on people working in natural sciences

28-10-2010 New scientific exhibition Copioni e copiati, for Festival della Scienza 2010, at Castello d'Albertis, Genova, until 5-12-2010

22-10-2010 New pictures exhibition until 11-06-2011 at Museo di Storia Naturale di Torino: Taxon, with pictures by F. Tomasinelli and P. Richaud

13-09-2010 New gallery on Valley of Butterflies, Rhodes, Greece

About this site

Welcome to Isopoda.net, website of Italian biologist and science photographer Francesco Tomasinelli. My favourite photographic subjects are unusual animals, travels and scientists at work, but I shoot many other topics, like sports, events and corporate pictures. I work as scientific consultant too, mainly on ecology topics.

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