What kind of mantis is it?
The greatly widened, shield-shaped pronotum and wings with a leaf-vein pattern make it look just like a withered leaf. This group (Deroplatys) was split off into its own family in a 2019 revision of the classification.
How to identify it
- The pronotum flares out sideways like a shield. In females the edges curve to points; in males they're rounder.
- The wings have a leaf-vein pattern.
Size comparison
Body length runs from the head to the tip of the abdomen, using the maximum of the larger sex. The bars only show relative size, so they don't match real size on screen.
Look-alikes
- Pronotum wide like a shield (pointed corners in females)
- Wings with a leaf-vein pattern
- Leaf-shaped crest on the head
- Flat, wide pronotum
- Wings like a crumpled dead leaf
Versus the ghost mantis: the ghost mantis is smaller (4.5–5 cm) and has a noticeable leaf-shaped crest on its head.
Range
It lives in tropical rainforest and scrubland in Southeast Asia.
Behavior
When threatened, it first drops to the ground, folds its legs, and plays dead. If the threat continues, it spreads its wings to show black spots and black-and-white striped hindwings, and raises its front legs to show red and black-and-white markings.
When disturbed, it sways like a leaf in the wind.
Korean sources call this genus "nagyeop samagwi" (dead leaf mantis), but there's no Korean name for the species, so "keun-nagyeop samagwi" (giant dead leaf mantis) is a provisional translation.