Orchid Mantis (Hymenopus coronatus)

Elena Frogge

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Mantodea

Family: Hymenopodidae

Genus: Hymenopus

Species: coronatus

Introduction

Though not often seen, especially in the wild, the orchid mantis (Hymenopus coronatus) is an incredibly intriguing insect, both through its appearances and its behavior. While human beings are drawn to the beauty of this insect, so are the prey that fall victim to the orchid mantis’ clever disguise. Whether sitting amongst other flowers or just out on a leaf, flying insects have no preference of where their “food source” rests, but they are in for a big surprise when it jumps into action and snatches them out of the air. The natural habitat of the orchid mantis is not well-known amongst scientists, so every new discovery about where they are found or what their ideal hunting range is makes leaps and bounds for entomology.

Morphology

Like all insects, orchid mantids have six legs that all resemble flower petals, four meant for walking while the front two are folded and held closer to the thorax, ready for grabbing prey. Based on the presence of these grasping arms, it is easy to connect the dots to mantids being effective carnivores. While we are used to seeing green, brown, or grey mantids, this species is a bright white, usually with splashes of pink or purple. Though this coloration may seem like a bad idea. drawing attention and sticking out like a sore thumb, that’s kind of the point. The bright coloration is meant to resemble a flower, perfect for drawing in pollinators as prey. It isn’t just prey that confuse orchid mantids for flowers, but predators as well; the colors act as the perfect camouflage. If everyone thinks it’s a flower, the mantis is practically invisible until it pounces. Another reasonably distinguishable feature of mantids is their triangular heads. Their compound eyes are conical and rest in what would be the top two corners of the upside-down triangular head. They have another feature common amongst insects called “ocelli” (singular: ocellus); these are considered “simple eyes” that rest on top of the head, mostly used for photoreception (detecting light).

Distribution

Orchid mantids are very elusive and are rarely seen out in the wild, with few sightings every year. They live in a very specific region of South to Southeast Asia, specific countries being India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as Southern China. The were first discovered in Ambon, Indonesia in 1972. They prefer somewhat tropical habitats, something that usually comes with a lot of both flora and fauna. With how little they are spotted and how many specimens are caught from the wild, there isn’t much knowledge on the species. The most likely place you would find an orchid mantis is in a terrarium in someone’s house, people who collect all sorts of insects either for taking care of them or pinned in a collection.

Hunting Methods and Diet

As previously mentioned, orchid mantids are carnivorous with their grabbing arms and mandibulate/chewing mouthparts. The source of prey is once again tied to the appearances of the mantis, meaning anything looking for a flower is in for a treat if they choose the wrong one. Orchid mantids have their hunting style figured out; because flowers aren’t just going to be up and walking around, neither are they. Orchid mantids (along with most other mantids) are sit-and-wait predators (aka opportunistic); they let the prey come to them. Since they are not actively going out to hunt down their prey, they have to be generalist feeders rather than specialists: beggars can’t be choosers. Though little variety was shown over which location provided higher prey availability for the orchid mantis, they were visited and inspected at higher volumes by pollinators and other flying insects when near clusters of other blooming flowers. Another big factor in the visitation from other bugs is whether or not the neighboring flowers are “rewarding” or not. A flower is much more appealing to insects when it “rewards” them with nectar and/or pollen versus a non-rewarding flower that offers nothing for the insect. The ideal combinations for the orchid mantis to take advantage of would either be surrounded by rewarding flowers or in the general vicinity of non-rewarding flowers. By being solitary but in the same area as non-rewarding flowers, the mantis will be more appealing as a possibility of a more rewarding food source.

Attracting Prey

A good portion of hunting for an orchid mantis is just trying to bring the prey in. Though coloration/appearance was all that was previously mentioned, there is also a chemical attractant they give off in certain situations as well. To first touch back to coloration, their white coloration seems to have great benefits. The orchid mantis absorbs white light while reflecting all UV light; UV light is within the range of colors seen by insects. Because they are reflecting UV, the mantids stand out to passing insects, just like regular flowers. The only issue is that as the orchid mantis ages, its colors begin to dull, they become less attractive to insects, and it gets more difficult to attract prey. Moving onto the smell situation, there is a very specific pollinator (the oriental honeybee, or Apis cerana) that falls into the stinky traps of orchid mantids. These honeybees have certain volatiles in their pheromones that act as attractants (the volatiles specifically being 3HOA and 10HDA). The mantids are capable of producing these volatiles in their mouthparts whenever they are hunting for this specific insect, drawing them in towards their hooked arms. Another con against the adult mantids, evidence has shown that they have more trouble producing these chemicals or have lost the ability altogether. Overall, the juvenile orchid mantids are incredibly capable and intriguing hunters.

Works Cited

B. Wipfler, F. Wieland, F. DeCarlo, T. Hörnschemeyer. "Cephalic morphology of Hymenopus coronatus (Insecta: Mantodea) and its phylogenetic implications." Arthropod Structure & Development, Volume 41, Issue 1, 2012, pg. 87-100.

James C. O’Hanlon. "Orchid mantis." Current Biology, Volume 26, Issue 4, 2016, pg. R145-R146.

J.C. O'Hanlon, D. Li, and Y. Norma-Rashid. "Coloration and Morphology of the Orchid Mantis Hymenopus coronatus (Mantodea: Hymenopodidae)," Journal of Orthoptera Research 22(1), July 2013, pg. 35-44.

J.C. O’Hanlon, M.E. Herberstein, G.I. Holwell, Habitat selection in a deceptive predator: maximizing resource availability and signal efficacy, Behavioral Ecology, Volume 26, Issue 1, Jan.-Feb. 2015, pg. 194–199.

Mizuno, Takafumi, et al. “‘Double-Trick’ Visual and Chemical Mimicry by the Juvenile Orchid Mantis Hymenopus Coronatus Used in Predation of the Oriental Honeybee Apis Cerana.” BioOne Complete, Zoological Society of Japan, 1 Dec. 2014.

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