Help identifying wild mantis I caught?

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Reversedtime

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Hi everyone,

I recently found this praying mantis in a park near my house. I live in a tropical country and have never seen this species of mantis before. Does anyone know what species it is? 
Sorry about the slightly blurry pictures. Camera refused to focus.  As of now its about 1.5 cm long

Thank you for the help!

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@hisbiscusmile  hahaha you're absolutely right xD

Oh managed to identify it after some searching. Could be an Asian Ant Mantis. I suppose it does look (vaguely) like an ant. 

 
@Reversedtime Looks like your close on the ID, an ant mimic, but not quite the right one. ;)

The Grass mantis/Asian Ant mantis (Odontomantis planiceps) appears different than the one you found, such as the head/eyes and on the raptorial forearm tibia area - see here.

It seems with those points taken into account you likely have a Ant mantis (Myrmecomantis atra), which are quite small even as adults. See the photo here of a pre-sub adult, and the coloring along the bottom of the thorax/abdomen/walking legs matches your perfectly too.

Of course how your mantis appears as adult, and it's size, will truly answer the question to the species identification.

 
You mentioned that you live in a tropical environment. I would agree with SPIDER @spider_creations and go with his pick: liturgusa

Bark Mantis found in Central and South America

 
Omg thanks for all the replies!  Sorry I forgot to check in. 

Well if behaviour helps,  it is really aggressive.  It just runs up to the flies and grabs it with no hesitation at all. And it runs really fast too.  Almost lost it in my room a couple of times.  Quite an interesting species to keep haha

@CosbyArt

The link you gave for Odontomantis does contain a picture of a subadult mantis that looks like the mantis i have though.  I read that they grow greener as they get older.  Really interesting how much the L2 nymphs really look like ants! 

The Ant Mantis and Asian Ant Mantis subadults look really similar hahaha.  But I live in a southeast asian country so I suppose it's more likely to be the asian version

 
@Reversedtime They do look very similar especially as nymphs, and many species can't be identified properly until/or nearly adult. ;) Ah, well that would make sense in your case and likely true then. Just enjoy the mantis and perhaps in time your know for certain the species, if not the only a problem is if you want to try them again and do not know which to get. 

 
CosbyArt said:
@Reversedtime They do look very similar especially as nymphs, and many species can't be identified properly until/or nearly adult. ;) Ah, well that would make sense in your case and likely true then. Just enjoy the mantis and perhaps in time your know for certain the species, if not the only a problem is if you want to try them again and do not know which to get. 
Click to expand...


Reversedtime said:
Omg thanks for all the replies!  Sorry I forgot to check in. 

Well if behaviour helps,  it is really aggressive.  It just runs up to the flies and grabs it with no hesitation at all. And it runs really fast too.  Almost lost it in my room a couple of times.  Quite an interesting species to keep haha

@CosbyArt

The link you gave for Odontomantis does contain a picture of a subadult mantis that looks like the mantis i have though.  I read that they grow greener as they get older.  Really interesting how much the L2 nymphs really look like ants! 

The Ant Mantis and Asian Ant Mantis subadults look really similar hahaha.  But I live in a southeast asian country so I suppose it's more likely to be the asian version
Click to expand...
Both of these are just common names that can be used for any species of mantis worldwide that mimics ants, or Asian ant mantis for any ant mimicking Asian mantis. Scientific names are always better to use to prevent confusion, especially when there are many species that could have the same description.

 
mantiseater said:
Both of these are just common names that can be used for any species of mantis worldwide that mimics ants, or Asian ant mantis for any ant mimicking Asian mantis. Scientific names are always better to use to prevent confusion, especially when there are many species that could have the same description.
Click to expand...
Indeed I agree and always use the scientific name as can be seen in all my forum posts when referring to a particular mantid species, as such see my original post above. Just not sure why you are my pulling previous posts that have nothing to do with it however - as they are nothing more than statements about identification in general and to enjoy what he did find.
help2.gif
Strange.

CosbyArt said:
... Grass mantis/Asian Ant mantis (Odontomantis planiceps)

...Ant mantis (Myrmecomantis atra)
Click to expand...

 
CosbyArt said:
Indeed I agree and always use the scientific name as can be seen in all my forum posts when referring to a particular mantid species, as such see my original post above. Just not sure why you are my pulling previous posts that have nothing to do with it however - as they are nothing more than statements about identification in general and to enjoy what he did find.
help2.gif
Strange.
Click to expand...
Sorry for responding to that quote too that was an accident. I only wanted to respond to when he said, " The Ant Mantis and Asian Ant Mantis subadults look really similar." The thing is that both Odontomantis and Myrmecomantis are asian haha.

 
mantiseater said:
Sorry for responding to that quote too that was an accident. I only wanted to respond to when he said, " The Ant Mantis and Asian Ant Mantis subadults look really similar." The thing is that both Odontomantis and Myrmecomantis are asian haha.
Click to expand...
Okay that makes sense then and would have avoided the confusion.

If you are referring to them both being found on the Asia continent though, you are correct.

Yes common mantid names can overlap, but usually just in the same genus. These two particular mantid species though are from different species, genus, tribe, and family classifications (and with all sub- taxonomic ranks too obviously) and are different all the way to the order rank of Mantodea. See the taxonomic rank hierarchy of Odontomantis planiceps and Myrmecomantis atra, for further details.

 

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