The praying mantis is an insect recognized globally for its distinctive posture and specialized ambush predation. Its long, slender form, triangular head, and powerful, spiny raptorial forelegs work in concert to secure prey. The colors of the praying mantis are functional adaptations that profoundly influence its survival and hunting success. This coloration is highly dependent on the immediate environment, dictating whether the mantis remains hidden from both predators and potential meals.
The Primary Color Palette
The vast majority of the over 2,400 species of mantises share a fundamental color palette: green and brown. These two colors represent the primary camouflage morphs found across various species, including the European mantis (Mantis religiosa) and the Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis). Green coloration is directly linked to life among dense, living foliage, allowing the insect to blend seamlessly into leaves and stems. This hue is produced by pigments, such as biliverdin, deposited in the insect’s cuticle.
In contrast, the brown morph is an adaptation to habitats dominated by dead wood, bark, or dry grasses. This darker coloring is often seen in species that frequent tree trunks or wait among the leaf litter. A single mantis species can exhibit all three color phases—green, brown, and sometimes yellowish. This genetic flexibility allows individuals to occupy diverse microhabitats while maintaining a low profile.
Coloration as a Survival Strategy (Crypsis)
The mantis’s color is rooted in the evolutionary strategy known as crypsis, a form of camouflage that makes the animal difficult to detect. Stealth is paramount, as the mantis must remain undetected by visual predators, such as birds, and by the insects it ambushes for food. The combination of color and body shape allows for background matching, where the mantis’s hue and tone closely replicate the light and shadow patterns of its immediate surroundings.
Amazonian bark mantises, for example, use white, gray, or greenish-brown colors to achieve low visual contrast against tree trunks and lichen patches. Some species also employ disruptive coloration, which uses bold patterns or color boundaries to break up the outline of the body, making it harder to perceive its true shape. This dual function of crypsis—predator avoidance and hunting efficacy—is why the mantis often remains motionless for long periods. The structure of the mantis’s forewings and elongated thorax often aids this disguise, mimicking leaves or twigs and enhancing the overall effect of invisibility.
Environmental and Species-Specific Color Variations
Beyond the standard green and brown, the mantis order includes species displaying specialized color variations tailored to niche environments. The most famous example is the Orchid Mantis (Hymenopus coronatus), which mimics a flower with pink and white coloration and petal-like limbs. It uses this deceptive appearance to lure pollinators directly into its grasp. Other species, such as the Dead Leaf Mantis, adopt mottled brown and gray patterns to masquerade as decaying foliage, often exhibiting sexual color dimorphism.
The color of an individual mantis can also be influenced by external factors, leading to a shift in hue over its lifetime. Environmental variables like temperature, humidity, and light intensity at the time of molting determine whether a mantis develops into a green or brown morph. For instance, a European mantis nymph exposed to higher humidity and moderate temperatures may develop a green exoskeleton, while one exposed to hot, dry conditions might develop a brown one. This color change occurs gradually over several days following a molt, allowing the insect to adapt its camouflage to seasonal changes in vegetation.