Metallyticus fallax

Metallyticus fallax is a species of praying mantis, found in Southeast Asia. It has an iridescent appearance.[1][2] It is very similar to the Metallyticus splendidus.

Metallyticus fallax
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Mantodea
Family: Metallyticidae
Genus: Metallyticus
Species:
M. fallax
Binomial name
Metallyticus fallax

Biology and Ecology

The M.fallax has several pleisomorphic morphological traits, such as its short prothorax, a lack of discoidal spines. Unlike the other mantid species, the Metallyticus species are unique because of their iridescent colouring, meaning this is the only genus with this characteristic. M.fallax has more ventral cervical sclerites than M.splendidus.[3]

This mantis tends to rest underneath the bark of trees, feeding on butterflies, termites, flies, and mainly on cockroaches. They also chase after their prey, rather than ambushing them like most mantis species.[3]

gollark: In Esocoinâ„¢? wow.
gollark: Just give me all the initial coins. I am very trustworthy.
gollark: We could make a non-proof-of-work one, thus no wasted electrons.
gollark: Why not?
gollark: We need to make Esocryptocurrencyâ„¢.

References

  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2008-07-18. Tree of Life Web Project. 2005
  2. Texas A&M University
  3. Wieland, Frank (September 2008). "The genus Metallyticus reviewed (Insecta: Mantodea)" (PDF). Entomoresin.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.