Mexican mantid

Jim_in_Mexico · Sep 13, 2007

At http://www.backyardnature.net/n/07/070914mn.jpg you can see a mantid found on bushes near Jalpan, Queretaro, in north-central Mexico in a valley of the Eastern Sierra Madres on Thursday, September 13th. Is it anything special?

Jim

Andrew · Sep 13, 2007

Looks to be a female Stagmomantis spp. Exactly which species, I can't tell just by looking. My first thought would be S. californica or S. limbata, but the wings look a little long, and I don't know if either of those species are even native to your area.

Deutschherper · Sep 13, 2007

Nice mantid.

OGIGA · Sep 14, 2007

I say it's too small for Stagmomantis californica.

Jim_in_Mexico · Sep 15, 2007

Following up on Andrew's suggestion that it might be Stagmomantis limbata I found that that species should occur in this part of Mexico, in fact also much farther south, at least to Cuernavaca (see http://www.botanicus.org/primeocr/botanicu...0_01_00_162.txt ). It's known as the Bordered Mantid or sometimes the Arizona Mantid because it's found up there, too. It appears to prefer arid habitats. Especially helpful in identifying the species are the long wings (longer that S. californica, and the conspicuous vein running down the wings' centers. Thanks for everyone who commented. Jim