In addition to disguising itself as an orchid, this mantis also has the unique ability to glide!

||||

For a long time, people have speculated that the orchid mantis's excellent "camouflage" evolved by imitating orchid flowers. However, the latest research results published in the journal "Contemporary Biology" recently revealed that the orchid mantis has the ability to glide, which provides a new explanation for its morphological evolution.

The orchid mantis is known as the "master of camouflage". "Insect Queen", "Carnivorous Orchid" and "Beauty Killer" are also the elegant names and nicknames given to it by people. As one of the species in nature that has used the "camouflage technique" to the extreme, the orchid mantis is an absolute natural predator.

Cheng Jin, a professor at the School of Biological Sciences and Technology of Beijing Forestry University, said that orchid mantises have superb trapping skills. Through "flower-like body color" and "flower-like body shape", they attract insects that cannot resist the temptation of flowers and are bent on searching for pollen and nectar. Once the insects are deceived, the orchid mantises, which have staged a "super imitation show", use their keen observation and superb mobility to capture the insects as easily as taking something out of a bag. Not only that, the mandibles of young orchid mantises also release some chemical substances that imitate the composition of bee pheromones, thereby efficiently attracting and capturing prey through "chemical mimicry".

The study also found that the orchid mantis is an excellent glider. "The orchid mantis' gliding skills are attributed to its special curved flower-shaped leg petals. This curvature is similar to the gliding structure of bird wings or other animals, and conforms to the basic principles of aerodynamics." Cheng Jin introduced that if an orchid mantis with complete leg petals is dropped from a height of 10 meters, it can glide an average horizontal distance of 6 meters, and the farthest distance is 14 meters; if the leg petals are removed, the gliding distance is reduced by one third; if the orchid mantis is anesthetized, the insect body will fall freely and lose the ability to glide. It can be seen that the flower-shaped leg petals play a vital role in the orchid mantis' gliding "take-off" process.

It is understood that compared with gliding vertebrates such as flying squirrels, flying lizards and tree frogs, the orchid mantis's exoskeleton used for gliding is often difficult to retract, resulting in poor mobility and easier discovery by natural enemies. Therefore, the orchid mantis also needs to evolve a body color close to that of flowers and disguise itself as an orchid in order to survive.