New Zealand mantis
The New Zealand mantis is a bright green praying mantis that lives only in New Zealand. It has a triangle-shaped head with big eyes and long front legs full of very sharp spikes. It is a quick little hunter that hides among leaves and waits for a snack to come by.
How big is it?
How long is it?
How big is New Zealand mantis compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
In the MΔori language it is called whe.
It has blue eyespots under its front legs. That is how you can tell it apart from a mantis that came from South Africa.
The mother lays her eggs in a neat case with two tidy rows, usually on the sunny, warm side of a branch.
The young ones are pale, see-through green with a dark stripe down the back.
Its big eyes help it judge distance very well when it strikes.
Most asked questions about New Zealand mantis
?Is the New Zealand mantis dangerous?
No. It is harmless to people and helps gardens by eating pests.
?How big is the New Zealand mantis?
It grows to about 3.5 to 4 centimetres long. Females are bigger than males.
?How can you tell the New Zealand mantis from the South African mantis?
The New Zealand mantis has blue eyespots under its front legs and lays tidier egg cases.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Orthodera novaezealandiae
- Group
- Mantises
- Family
- Mantidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Mantodea > Mantidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- New Zealand praying mantis, Whe
Where the facts come from
- Orthodera novaezealandiae (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 Bryce McQuillan. CC BY-SA 2.0, 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
Oriental beetle
Question mark butterfly
Blue-winged wasp
Poplar hawk-moth
Silver Y
California root borer_from_side.jpg){kind=link}