Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
In nature, things are not always as they seem
THE next time you stop to smell the flowers, just remember that you might be sniffing a terrifying carnivorous insect. Nature is horrifying, and it will eat you for breakfast (especially if you’re a bee).
Yeah, yeah, sometimes one kind of animal or plant will try to look like another kind of animal or plant. This is often impressive and sometimes adorable (we’re looking at you, baby bird who pretends to be a caterpillar), but every once in a while this camouflage is so successful that its creepy.
Meet the orchid mantis. It is a beautiful pink and white mantis with lobes on its legs that look like flower petals. Although this species does not live on orchids, it does look remarkably like a flower or orchid.
This species is very popular and loved because of its beautiful bright colours and amazing camouflage. In the wild it is found in Malaysia.
Stick bugs and the like blend into the foliage to avoid predators; the orchid mantis uses its fake petals to catch prey. Other animals hide themselves among plants to ensnare their prey, but the orchid mantis remains unique: It doesn’t need to find a flower to hide in.
Because it looks like a whole flower.
Another interesting fact: the orchid mantis isn’t actually mimicking any flower in particular. They just look like really big, pretty, generally welcoming flowers. To a bee brain, that’s quite enough. And sometimes they’re bright pink, which is somehow even better. – Washington Post