Description

Blepharopsis mendica (Thistle Mantis, Lesser Devils Flower Mantis)

Blepharopsis mendica (Thistle Mantis, Lesser Devils Flower Mantis) for sale

Blepharopsis mendica is a species of praying mantis found in North Africa, parts of the Mediterranean, Middle East and southern Asia, and on the Canary Islands. Devil’s flower mantis, Egyptian flower mantis, thistle mantis, and Arab mantis are among its common names.

In deimatic display, the adult rotates its head and thorax to one side, displaying the bright colours on the insides of its forelegs and the undersides of its hindwings, and holds its wings slightly spread behind the body, making it seem large and threatening.

This species lives in terrestrial areas like herbaceous vegetation and spiny bushes. Their color makes them well suited for mimicry of leaves, spiny or dry bushes, and vegetation in deserts due to their coloration.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blepharopsis_mendica

subfamily Blepharodinae
genus Blepharopsis Rehn, 1902
species mendica (Fabricius, 1775)

subspecies Blepharopsis mendica mendica (Fabricius, 1775)

urn:lsid:Mantodea.speciesfile.org:TaxonName:3252

• Ecology:
  • Terrestrial.
• Specimen records are available.
• Citations (29):
  • Fabricius. 1775. Syst. Ent. 2:275 >> Mantis mendica    urn:lsid:Mantodea.speciesfile.org:TaxonName:4065
  • Olivier. 1792. Enc. Meth., Ins. 7:627 >> Mantis marmorata
  • Fabricius. 1793. Ent. Syst. 2:17
  • Latreille. 1807. Gen. Crust. Ins. 3:90
  • Stoll. 1813. Represent. Spectres, Mantes 41
  • Brulle. 1835. Hist. nat. Ins. 4:77
  • Burmeister. 1838. Handb. Ent., Burm. 2:548 >> Blepharis
  • Saussure. 1871. Mem. Soc. Hist. nat. Geneve 21:329
  • Finot. 1895. Annls Soc. ent. Fr. 64:109
  • Jacobson & Bianki. 1902. Prem. i Lozhn. Ross. Imp. 155 >> Blepharis
  • Kirby. 1904. Syn. Cat. Orth. 1:315
  • Werner. 1905. Sber. Akad. Wiss. Wien 114:412
  • Chopard. 1921. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 27:53
  • Chopard. 1931. Bull. du Mus. 2e III(7):626
  • Beier. 1934. Genera Insect. 197:7
  • Chopard. 1935. Mem. Acad. Sci. Inst. France 62:2
  • Chopard. 1940. Rev. Fr. Ent. 7(1):23
  • Morales Agacino. 1945. Eos, Madr. 20:316
  • Morales Agacino. 1947. Eos, Madr. 23:249
  • Morales Agacino. 1948. Eos, Madr. 24:366
  • Chopard. 1950. Mem. Inst. Fr. Afr. Noire 10:133
  • Chopard. 1952. Bull. Inst. fond. Afr. noire 14:465
  • Roy. 1968. Bull. Inst. fond. Afr. noire A 30:1354- >> Note: in Mauritania
  • Demirsoy. 1979. Ent. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Hamburg 6:254- >> Note: of Anatolia258
  • Prost & Roy. 1986. Bull. Inst. fond. Afr. noire A 45:89- >> Note: in Burkina Faso
  • Mukherjee. 1995. Oriental Insects 29 >> Note: records India as locality >> Blepharopsis mendica mendica
  • Ciplak & Demirsoy. 1997. J. Orthoptera Research 6:105- >> Note: of Anatolia
  • Ehrmann. 2002. Mantodea der Welt 79
  • Roy. 2004. Revue Francaise D’Entomologie. 26(1):1-18 >> Note: notes that B. m. mendica is largely of Morocco, Mauritania, Canary Islands and Cyprus
• See species mendica for additional information.
• Type specimen information:
  • Type locality:
  • Kind of type:  unspecified primary type

• synonym marmorata (Olivier, 1792)