What kind of mantis is it?
The body is thin and mostly beige to dark brown. It's often seen on building walls and around streetlights, so it's an easy mantis to meet in the city.
The rare green females lack the black spot on the chest or have only a faint one. This green form was once misreported as a different species, Statilia nemoralis, which is why the old list had 9 Korean mantises.
How to identify it
- There's a large, glossy, square black spot at the inner base of the front coxa.
- There are 2 black spots inside the front femur, with a white mark in the spine groove between them. The inner tip of the femur is pale pink to magenta.
- In life, the membrane between the front-leg bases is pearly pink.
- The front of the hindwing is reddish brown with a dark, smoky blotch in the middle.
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
- Square black spot inside the coxa; membrane is pearly pink
- White mark between 2 black spots inside the femur; pink tip
- Hindwing front reddish brown with a dark central blotch
- Large, elongated black spot inside the front coxa
- Only yellow dots in the spine grooves (no black marks)
- Hindwings clear, brownish only at the tip
Versus the European mantis: the European mantis has only yellow dots or no markings in the spine grooves of the front legs, is bigger, and is often green or yellow.
- Square black spot inside the coxa; membrane is pearly pink
- White mark between 2 black spots inside the femur; pink tip
- Hindwing front reddish brown with a dark central blotch
- Very short wings leave the abdomen exposed (12–15 mm)
- Very short, kite-shaped pronotum
- 5 dark dots behind the top of the head
- Irregular dark spots on the body
Versus the millet-grain mantis: the millet-grain mantis, whose Korean name sounds similar, is a completely different species, 12–15 mm long with very short wings.
Where and when to find it
It has adapted very well to cities and suburbs across Korea. It's active on building walls and around streetlights, under stones, and close to the ground.
The young usually hatch in early June, and adults are seen from mid-August to late October.
Egg case
A thin spindle-shaped egg case 20–29 mm long and 6–10 mm wide. It's light brown with clear, slanting chamber lines, and it's attached by a very long, drawn-out tip. It's laid under stones or in bark crevices.
Behavior
It comes to lights at night.
When threatened, it lifts its forewings, spreads its hindwings, and rubs the hindwings against the abdomen to make a "hissing" sound. This also reveals the markings inside the front legs, which are normally hard to see.
Fun facts
- It has also established itself in the eastern US and in Russia. In Russia it was the first introduced mantis on record.
The description that it shows the markings inside the front legs in its threat display follows Korean field observations.