Arthropod • Yunnan leaf mantis
Asiadodis yunnanensis
Yunnan Leaf Mantis, belonging to arthropods, insects, mantises, mantis family, subphyllae mantis genus. It usually inhabits high and humid tropical rain forests or monsoon rain forests, and is currently known to be distributed in Yunnan. Photo taken in Xishuangbanna.
Among the praying mantises, the Yunnan leaf mantis is considered a large number, and the adult female can reach 6 to 7 cm in length. The Yunnan Leaf Mantis is an incompletely metamorphosed insect that goes through three stages of egg, nymph and adult in its lifetime. Unlike most mantis species, nymphs and adults are generally similar in morphology, nymphs and adults of the Yunnan leaf mantis have certain differences in morphology. The shape of the nymph is like a diamond prism, and the adult insect is shaped like a leaf after being eaten after feathering out of its wings.
During the nymph period , they are flexible and energetic , often moving between branches , but due to their poor flight , they are mostly active in the same area.
Unlike most mantis nymphs, which prefer to hang upside down on leaves, which have a cheating tool shaped like a leaf, the Yunnan leaf mantis nymph prefers to stand on the front of the leaf. When in danger, they will cling to the leaf surface and use a relatively wide back plate to fuse with the leaf surface, which has the effect of camouflage and confusion. If the enemy's vision is excellent and they see through its camouflage, they will fall directly from the blade to the ground and escape.
In the adult stage, they generally choose a suitable place for ambush, and then quietly wait for their prey to come to the door, sometimes even staying on the blades all day. Of course, adults have a larger range of activity than nymphs, and when they can't find food in one place, they also fly short distances to their next destination to forage for food.
Usually, male praying mantises are small in size, with well-developed wings and good at flying, while female praying mantises have degenerated or are shorter than the end of the abdomen due to their large size, and are not good at flying, such as the bright-ended eye spotted mantis and gorgeous curved mantis introduced earlier, but the wings of the female female of Yunnan Leaf Mantis are very developed, exceeding the end of the abdomen by about 1 cm, and are good at flying.
So, why are some females good at flying, and some females are not good at flying?
"This is mainly to see the environment in which the praying mantis lives, such as the Yunnan leaf mantis, their adults are active in the canopy of the rainforest, and they need to fly on other trees, otherwise they are easily trapped in the trees." Zhu Xiaoyu, author of the book "Chinese Mantis" and the creator of the "Firefly" nature documentary, said that the praying mantis living in the bush can migrate through crawling, and there is no need to fly, so the wings will degenerate.
Due to the limitations of geographical distribution and its own good camouflage, the Yunnan leaf mantis is little known.
"I went into the mountains with a friend who especially liked insects to shoot, and he found this mantis and pointed it out to me, and I fixed my eyes on it for a while before I saw that it was actually a praying mantis." Photographer Zhao Yi said that at that time, it had just rained in the woods, and there was a green everywhere, and the praying mantis was stuck on a green leaf, and the color was highly coincident with the surrounding environment, "Later, I caught it and put it on the ground, and it posed as a 'shy' posture." ”
Zhao Yi, a mountain self-driving enthusiast, loves photography, painting and everything beautiful. Record the natural life with the lens, feel the magic of biodiversity, and enjoy the wonderful journey of beauty and beauty.
Coordinator: Zhao Juan Lian Huiling
Character arrangement: Tamoto
Poster Design: Zheng Biyin
Special thanks: Mr. Zhu Xiaoyu, author of the book "Chinese Mantis" and the main creator of the nature documentary "Fireflies".
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