---
title: "What the sources say about the Orchid Mantis | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "55 claims from the Orchid Mantis profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Orchid Mantis (*Hymenopus coronatus*)

> 55 claims from the Orchid Mantis profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Orchid Mantis](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/orchid-mantis/)

## O’Hanlon, Holwell & Herberstein (2014). Pollinator Deception in the Orchid Mantis. The American Naturalist.

https://doi.org/10.1086/673858

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The orchid mantis (*Hymenopus coronatus*) hunts by deceiving pollinators | isolated mantises attract wild pollinators at a rate even higher than flowers and capture these pollinators as prey items. After more than a century of conjecture, we provide the first experimental evidence of pollinator deception in the orchid mantis (note: 'deceiving pollinators' is the source's 'pollinator deception'; 'hunts by' is its 'capture these pollinators as prey items') |
| to a bee's eyes its color is indistinguishable from the flowers growing around it | the color of H. coronatus is indistinguishable from the color of sympatric flowers for hymenopteran pollinators (note: 'hymenopteran pollinators' narrowed to bees (Science News: 'computer models that simulate what colors bees actually see'); 'sympatric' = growing in the same area) |
| In field tests, isolated mantises attracted wild pollinators, including local bees, flies and butterflies, at an even higher rate than real flowers did, then caught them as prey | Field experiments show that isolated mantises attract wild pollinators at a rate even higher than flowers and capture these pollinators as prey items (note: the list of pollinators is the Science News claim above) |
| A 2014 study called it a hunting strategy not documented in any other animal species | the first description of a unique predatory strategy that has not been documented in any other animal species (note: a record claim, scoped to the 2014 paper that made it The year is the reference's own publication year.) |
| Flower-colored to a bee's eyes, it draws in wild pollinators at a higher rate than real flowers do, then catches them | the color of H. coronatus is indistinguishable from the color of sympatric flowers for hymenopteran pollinators. Field experiments show that isolated mantises attract wild pollinators at a rate even higher than flowers and capture these pollinators as prey items (note: tagline) |
| Color that bees cannot tell apart from real flowers, drawing in wild pollinators at an even higher rate than flowers do | the color of H. coronatus is indistinguishable from the color of sympatric flowers for hymenopteran pollinators. Field experiments show that isolated mantises attract wild pollinators at a rate even higher than flowers (note: stats.superpower; 'cannot tell apart' paraphrases 'indistinguishable ... for hymenopteran pollinators'; the draft's 'camouflage' named hiding, the opposite of luring) |
| It lures them in | isolated mantises attract wild pollinators at a rate even higher than flowers and capture these pollinators as prey items (note: FAQ 1's direct answer) |
| A 2014 study found that, to a bee's eyes, the orchid mantis's color is indistinguishable from the color of flowers growing in the same area | the color of H. coronatus is indistinguishable from the color of sympatric flowers for hymenopteran pollinators (note: The year is the reference's own publication year.) |
| In field experiments, isolated mantises attracted wild pollinators at an even higher rate than flowers did, and caught them as prey | Field experiments show that isolated mantises attract wild pollinators at a rate even higher than flowers and capture these pollinators as prey items |
| The researchers called it the first experimental evidence that the orchid mantis deceives pollinators, and a hunting strategy not documented in any other animal species | we provide the first experimental evidence of pollinator deception in the orchid mantis and the first description of a unique predatory strategy that has not been documented in any other animal species |
| a mantis whose color bees cannot tell apart from real flowers, drawing in wild pollinators at an even higher rate than flowers do | the color of H. coronatus is indistinguishable from the color of sympatric flowers for hymenopteran pollinators. Field experiments show that isolated mantises attract wild pollinators at a rate even higher than flowers (note: vibe.reason (task #268); replaces 'iridescent floral camouflage', which no source supports: the match is color under bee vision, and the strategy is a lure, not hiding; 'cannot tell apart' paraphrases 'indistinguishable ... for hymenopteran pollinators', the wording the reviewed superpower line already uses) |

## Svenson et al. (2016). Selection for predation, not female fecundity, explains sexual size dimorphism in the orchid mantises. Scientific Reports.

https://doi.org/10.1038/srep37753

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Its middle and hind legs carry broad lobes that resemble flower petals | extremely enlarged foliaceous lobes on the middle and hind legs that resemble flower petals (note: said of Hymenopus and Helvia; 'broad' plainly renders 'extremely enlarged foliaceous' (leaf-like)) |
| According to a 2016 study, adult males and females hunt in fundamentally different ways | Adult orchid mantis males and females exhibit fundamentally different predatory strategies (note: The year is the reference's own publication year.) |
| Males rely on ambush, the hunting strategy of their ancestors, while females use aggressive mimicry | with males relying on an ancestral ambush predatory strategy and females using aggressive crypsis (Peckhamian mimicry) (note: Peckhamian mimicry is the standard synonym of aggressive mimicry; the clause after it on the page is a definition) |
| Large pollinating insects are protected by their size from most predators that hunt on flowers | large pollinators, otherwise protected by their size, maintain their typical foraging behaviour, being an unavailable resource for most flower-associated predators (note: used in the body and FAQ 2) |
| the study concluded that females in this family line grew much bigger to catch them, not to have more offspring | the larger the female, the greater the number of offspring ... SSD has been driven by female gigantism in response to selective pressures imposed by predatory success rather than fecundity (note: 'family line' = the paper's 'lineage of flower-associated praying mantises'; 'offspring' is its own gloss of fecundity; 'to catch them' is 'predatory success', and the preceding claim names the prey) |
| Males stayed small and mobile, which helps them find mates | Male flower mantises, however, remained small and mobile to facilitate mate-finding and reproductive success (note: used in the body and FAQ 2) |
| The authors knew of no other praying mantis species whose females are more than twice the size of males | To our knowledge, no other praying mantis species exhibits female size greater than twice that of males (note: used in the body and FAQ 2; 'no other' kept with the authors' 'to our knowledge' and the study's 2016 date) |
| A 2016 study concluded that females in this family line grew much bigger to catch prey, not to have more offspring | the larger the female, the greater the number of offspring ... SSD has been driven by female gigantism in response to selective pressures imposed by predatory success rather than fecundity (note: The year is the reference's own publication year.) |
| bigger females gained access to them as a new food source | Sedentary female flower mantises dramatically increased in size prior to a transition from camouflaged, ambush predation to a floral simulation strategy, gaining access to, and visually attracting, a novel resource: large pollinating insects |

## Mizuno et al. (2014). “Double-Trick” Visual and Chemical Mimicry by the Juvenile Orchid MantisHymenopus coronatusused in Predation of the Oriental HoneybeeApis cerana. Zoological Science.

https://doi.org/10.2108/zs140126

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Young orchid mantises, called nymphs, already look like flowers, but researchers doubted that looks alone could make them better hunters | the flower-like appearance of the juvenile orchid mantis is used as visual camouflage to capture flower-visiting insects, although it is doubtful whether such morphological resemblance alone could increase their success in hunting |
| Young orchid mantises already look like flowers, but researchers doubted that looks alone could make them better hunters | the flower-like appearance of the juvenile orchid mantis is used as visual camouflage to capture flower-visiting insects, although it is doubtful whether such morphological resemblance alone could increase their success in hunting (note: FAQ 3's wording of the blockquote's opening) |
| The juveniles' mandibles (jaws) carry two chemicals | the mantes' mandibular adducts contained 3-hydroxyoctanoic acid (3HOA) and 10-hydroxy-(E)-2-decenoic acid (10HDA) (note: used in the blockquote and FAQ 3) |
| that are also part of the oriental honeybee's pheromone | both of which are also features of the pheromone communication of the oriental honeybee (note: used in the blockquote and FAQ 3; the blockquote's 'the chemical signals bees use to talk to each other' defines pheromone) |
| 3-hydroxyoctanoic acid and 10-hydroxy-(E)-2-decenoic acid | 3-hydroxyoctanoic acid (3HOA) and 10-hydroxy-(E)-2-decenoic acid (10HDA) |
| The researchers detected one of them in the air only while a juvenile was trying to catch prey | We also successfully detected 3HOA emitted in the head space air only at the time when the juvenile mantes were attempting to capture their prey (note: used in the blockquote and FAQ 3) |
| in a field test honeybees mostly chose to visit dummies dosed with the right mix of both | Field bioassay showed that the Oriental Honeybee predominantly preferred to visit dummies impregnated with a mixture of the appropriate amounts and ratios of 3HOA and 10HDA (note: used in the blockquote and FAQ 3) |
| In a 2014 study, juvenile females often caught oriental honeybees, while adult females often failed | We confirmed that juvenile female orchid mantes often succeed in capturing oriental honeybees, while adult females often fail (note: The year is the reference's own publication year.) |
| Partly with chemistry | We therefore conclude that the juvenile mantes utilize these as allelochemicals to trick and attract oriental honeybees (note: 'partly' because the same abstract credits the flower-like look as the other half of the trick) |

## Zhao et al. (2024). Petal-shaped femoral lobes facilitate gliding in orchid mantises. Current Biology.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.11.003

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The petal-shaped lobes on its legs made the orchid mantis a textbook example of flower mimicry for about 200 years | Orchid mantises (Hymenopus coronatus) have been traditionally considered a textbook example of flower mimicry for ∼200 years due to their highly expanded, petal-shaped femoral lobes |
| evidence suggests they do not help it lure pollinators | Observational and experimental evidence suggests that these lobes do not contribute to flower mimicry for luring pollinators (note: the 2024 paper's summary of earlier work (its refs 6 and 7); 'suggests' kept) |
| A 2024 study found another job for them: orchid mantises escape by jumping, and their nymphs are excellent gliders, with the shallowest glides observed in any land-dwelling invertebrate | After observing their aerial escape initiated with active jumping ... orchid mantis nymphs are excellent gliders, exhibiting the shallowest gliding trajectories observed in terrestrial invertebrates ... play a vital role in the aerodynamic underpinning of the observed gliding (note: a record claim, scoped to the 2024 study that made it; 'another job' is the lobes' 'vital role' in gliding, after the sentence before it cites evidence against a luring role. The year is the reference's own publication year.) |
| Orchid mantises escape by jumping, and a 2024 study found their nymphs are excellent gliders, with the shallowest glides observed in any land-dwelling invertebrate | After observing their aerial escape initiated with active jumping ... orchid mantis nymphs are excellent gliders, exhibiting the shallowest gliding trajectories observed in terrestrial invertebrates (note: FAQ 4's wording of the body claim The year is the reference's own publication year.) |
| Its nymphs (young mantises) can | orchid mantis nymphs are excellent gliders |
| cambered airfoils, curved surfaces that work like wings: they add about 36 percent to the area of the mantis's outline and play a vital role in its gliding | The lobe extensions on their femoral segments are cambered airfoils, which increase the mantis projected area by ∼36% and play a vital role in the aerodynamic underpinning of the observed gliding (note: used in the body and FAQ 4; 'area of the mantis's outline' plainly renders 'projected area') |
| Despite a 165-fold increase in body mass as they grow, older female nymphs could still glide | Despite a 165-fold increase in body mass throughout ontogeny, older female mantis nymphs maintained a persistent gliding capability (note: used in the body and FAQ 4; the draft's 'just as well' compared glides the source does not compare) |
| The researchers called it the first documented case of gliding "leg wings" in a wingless arthropod | This is the first documentation of gliding-adapted “leg wings” in a wingless arthropod (note: used in the body and FAQ 4; a 'first' claim, scoped to the researchers who made it) |

## Zhao, Liu & Chen (2022). The orchid mantis exhibits high ontogenetic colouration variety and intersexual life history differences. Research Square.

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1711126/v1

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In an 11-year survey in and around a tropical botanical garden in Yunnan, China | The records for 11 years (2011-2021) of field observations were collected in and around Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG, 21º 55' N, 101º 16' E, 1125 hm 2 in area), Yunnan, China |
| researchers logged 54 records | Fifty-four orchid mantis records were collected in total (52 were inside XTBG and two were outside but within 3 km from XTBG). The 54 records included one ootheca, two first instars, 39 flower-like juveniles (second instars to the last instar nymphs) and 12 adults (10 females and 2 males) (note: the count only; the draft's 'extremely low' and 'just' were the source's hedged 'suggested', so both are gone) |
| only two of those mantises were on flowers | Only two individuals were recorded on flowers |
| The survey suggested it mainly stays on backgrounds such as green leaves, where its body color stands out | This suggested that the orchid mantis mainly stayed on the background, such as green plant leaves, which highly contrasted with its body colour (note: 'stands out' renders 'highly contrasted with its body colour') |
| The same team reared orchid mantises in a lab at the garden | we reared 428 orchid mantises ... in the laboratory (located at XTBG) |
| inside the species' natural range | our laboratory was located within the natural distribution region of the orchid mantis |
| 91 reached adulthood with complete records | 91 reared individuals (38 females and 53 males) were included, as they reached adulthood and had complete data records |
| After their final molt into adults, females weighed about 1.4 grams on average and males about 0.24 grams, less than a fifth as much | body weights after the last moult (female: 1367.00 ± 281.00 mg; male: 241.00 ± 46.00 mg; P < 0.001) (note: lab-reared means (the paragraph opens 'in a lab'): 1367 mg = about 1.4 g, 241 mg = about 0.24 g; 241/1367 = 0.176, so 'less than a fifth' (the draft's 'roughly a fifth' overstated it). The last moult is the one to maturity: the same sentence counts 'moults to maturity') |
| In the lab, females lived an average of 192 days and males 138 days | lifespans (female: 192.00 ± 28.80 days; male: 138.00 ± 37.50 days; P < 0.001) |
| Not Evaluated | had an extremely low wild population abundance (note: GBIF's copy of the Red List returns {"category":"NOT_EVALUATED","scientificName":"Hymenopus coronatus Olivier, 1792","code":"NE"} for usage key 1406471 (https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/1406471/iucnRedListCategory), checked 2026-09-14, and neither the prefetch nor Crossref has an assessment DOI. No cached source states a conservation status, so this cites the reference that best supports the species' own identity and rarity instead (GBIF itself is not cited: its API returns bare JSON with no page a reader can open).) |
| southern China | The records for 11 years (2011-2021) of field observations were collected in and around Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG, 21&ordm; 55' N, 101&ordm; 16' E, 1125 hm 2 in area), Yunnan, China ... our laboratory was located within the natural distribution region of the orchid mantis (note: stats.habitat; XTBG sits at 21°55' N, in the far south of Yunnan, and the same source's rainfall data come from its 'Station for Tropical Rain Forest Ecosystem Studies') |
| mainly on green leaves rather than flowers | Only two individuals were recorded on flowers. This suggested that the orchid mantis mainly stayed on the background, such as green plant leaves (note: stats.habitat; 'rather than flowers' is the count (2 of 54 records on flowers) set against 'mainly stayed on the background, such as green plant leaves') |

## A corsage that bites. Science News, 2013.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/corsage-bites

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| including local bees, flies and butterflies | when researchers set orchid mantises out in the forest, local bees, flies and butterflies flew fatally close (note: the list of pollinators the forest test drew, from Science News; 'In field tests' is its 'when researchers set orchid mantises out in the forest') |
| After searching Malaysian rainforests, researcher James O'Hanlon said, "As far as we can tell, they're fantastically rare." | He and his colleagues began scouring Malaysian rainforests for wild orchid mantises ... As far as we can tell, they’re fantastically rare (note: 'After searching' paraphrases the article's sequence: 'began scouring Malaysian rainforests', then his quote; the quote keeps his 'as far as we can tell') |
| Rainforests of Southeast Asia, including Malaysia | He and his colleagues began scouring Malaysian rainforests for wild orchid mantises (note: stats.habitat; 'Southeast Asia' is its own claim below) |
| Wild bees, flies and butterflies, lured in as prey | local bees, flies and butterflies flew fatally close. The mantises, in fact, attracted more pollinators than real flowers did (note: stats.diet) |

## Praying Mantis Looks Like a Flower: And Now We Know Why. National Geographic, 2016.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/orchid-mantises-evolution-insects

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| arthropod, the group that includes insects and spiders | arthropods, the group that includes spiders and insects |
| Southeast Asia | a Southeast Asian insect that masquerades as a flower to attract prey (note: stats.habitat) |