do mantises change colors?

[asiandude]

i was wondering if a mantis can change color i didnt think so but a friend said they do. is it becasue of the different levels of light or what?

 

[Stuart89]

They can change colours as they moult, but not like a chameleon can. There was a post similar to this the other day that had the answers, from Christian.

The color in mantids is clearly not genetically determined. However, in those species that are polymorph, the ability to adapt colors should be.There were already threads on this topic. To make it short, mainly three factors are responsible, often in combination or with different relative importance: light intensity and spectrum, humidity and color of the environment. Some species react more to humidity, others to light intensity. And, not all tested mantids change the color. If you try to get them green, you will always get also brown ones. And vice versa.

 

[Pelle]

Click

 

[Venom]

I think on wikipedia I read that some mantids turned black after a forest fire to resemble the burnt background.

I know wikipedia isn't always right, but still.

 

[OGIGA]

They'd probably turn black because of the ashes though. Heh, just a random observation.

 

[Gurd]

I think on wikipedia I read that some mantids turned black after a forest fire to resemble the burnt background.I know wikipedia isn't always right, but still.

I'm running an on-going experiment about colour morphs

The group of P.ocellata that I have in a black environment have all got a pink tint to them after 2 moults in a colour co-ordinated environment :huh:

 

[mrblue]

I think on wikipedia I read that some mantids turned black after a forest fire to resemble the burnt background.I know wikipedia isn't always right, but still.

i think i read this somewhere too, it think it's called fire melanism, but i'm not sure.

 

[Morpheus uk]

Yeah my popa was a black morph and seeing as they are from africa, i thought maybe hotr temperatures may turn them black?