Encyclopaedia
South American Dead Leaf Mantis (Acanthops falcata)
Acanthops falcata
The Acanthops falcata, the South American Dead Leaf Mantis. It is the pinnacle of Neotropical cryptic camouflage: this mantis does not just imitate a dead leaf, but a crumpled and deformed leaf fallen to the ground. Adult females are inept at flying, have very short wings similar to scaly stumps and a stocky and deformed body, often kept curled up on itself (Thanatosis) to look like an inanimate vegetal waste. Males, on the contrary, are long, slender and skilled flyers (they literally fly like diurnal blowflies). Extremely static and peaceful, the falcata has a highly intolerant stomach: the diet must consist exclusively of drosophila and flying flies, ingestion of crickets leads to instantaneous bacterial digestive collapse.
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Terrestrial
70 - 80 %
25 - 30 °C
20 - 22 °C
None
Species description
Care, breeding and tankmates
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Origin
Terrestrial invertebrate profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 4 cm
- Lifestyle/Microhabitat
- No verified data available
- Activity cycle
- No verified data available
- Sociality
- No verified data available
- Reproduction
- No verified data available
- Venom level
- No verified data available
- Handling tolerance
- No verified data available
- Brumation
- No verified data available
- Molting
- No verified data available
Image gallery
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Related species
Recommendations grouped by close relatives, companion choices, and similar care.
