What kind of mantis is it?
We cover a genus (Liturgusa) rather than a single species, because there isn't much data on individual species.
In a single taxonomic revision in 2014, 19 new species were recorded at once across this genus and two newly created genera.
How to identify it
- Gray-brown, dark brown, and black mottling blends into bark and lichen.
- Long legs and a flat body make it good at clinging to trunks.
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
- Gray-brown, dark brown, and black mottling blends into bark and lichen
- Long legs and flat body press against the trunk
- Black-and-white striped legs
- Jet-black, wingless body (female)
- Pinkish-red mark inside the front legs
Versus the black boxer bark mantis: the black boxer bark mantis also runs fast on tree bark, but it lives in Australia, and the female is jet black and wingless.
Range
It lives only on tree trunks and branches in Central and South America.
Behavior
Rather than just ambushing, it walks quickly along trunks and hunts actively.
When a person approaches in daytime, it sidesteps to the other side of the trunk to hide, and if it keeps being threatened, it runs up the tree.