Japanese giant mantis
The Japanese giant mantis is a big, slim praying mantis with a triangle-shaped head and strong grabbing front legs. It can be green or brown, so it hides well among plants. It sits very still and waits for insects to come close.
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Fun facts
Despite its name, it does not live on the main islands of Japan, because the winters there are too cold.
The females are bigger than the males and can be over 10 cm long.
It follows moving prey by turning its head, keeping the bug right in the sharpest part of its eyes.
When it opens its wings, the back wings are dark brown to purple.
Small mantises keep still to hide, while big ones try to scare enemies away by showing off.
Most asked questions about Japanese giant mantis
?How big is the Japanese giant mantis?
Females are about 8 to 10,5 cm long, males about 6,5 to 8,5 cm.
?What does the Japanese giant mantis eat?
Insects, spiders and other small animals that it catches with its front legs.
?Is the Japanese giant mantis dangerous?
No. It has no venom and is harmless to people.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Tenodera aridifolia
- Named by
- Stoll, 1813
- Group
- Mantises
- Family
- Mantidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Mantodea > Mantidae
- Lives on
- Asia
Where the facts come from
- Tenodera aridifolia (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 lienyuan lee. CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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