Mediterranean mantis
The Mediterranean mantis is a slim, grass-green praying mantis. Hidden on its back wings are two big violet-brown eye spots. When it opens its wings, it looks like a much bigger animal is staring at you.
How big is it?
How long is it?
How big is Mediterranean mantis compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
When it is attacked, it rears up, curls its tail up, waves its front legs, flashes its eye spots and makes a rasping sound with its wings.
It is very pale when young and turns grass green as it grows up.
When there are not enough males, a female can lay eggs that hatch without a dad.
Some babies hatch from the egg case a whole year later than their brothers and sisters.
It has a small red-orange spot under its belly that helps tell it apart from other mantises.
Most asked questions about Mediterranean mantis
?How big is the Mediterranean mantis?
It grows to about 6,5 cm long.
?Is the Mediterranean mantis dangerous?
No. Its wing display looks scary, but it is harmless to people.
?What does the Mediterranean mantis eat?
Insects, which it ambushes and catches with its front legs.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Iris oratoria
- Group
- Mantises
- Family
- Mantidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Mantodea > Mantidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia, North America
- Also known as
- Iris mantis
Where the facts come from
- Iris oratoria (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 Siga. CC BY-SA 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 hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
European mantis
Orchid mantis
Chinese mantis
Carolina mantis
Conehead mantis
Wandering violin mantis
Goldenrod gall fly
Greenhouse whitefly
Red slug
Sycamore moth
Greyback cane beetle
Garden chafer