Everyone can see the coordinates unless the taxon is threatened.
Obscured
Public coordinates shown as a random point within 10KM of the true coordinates. True coordinates are only visible to you and the curators of projects to which you add the observation.
private
Coordinates completely hidden from public maps, true coordinates only visible to you and the curators of projects to which you add the observation. Observations with private coordinates will still be used to verify place check lists.
Description
Not sure why its eyes appear blue. Contrast and saturation are bumped, but they were blueish. I'm calling this M. religiosa due to the dark marks on the inner surfaces of the first femurs.
Almost all the mantises I've found in the grasslands around here are this color, presumably to blend in with the dead annual grasses. I don't think they're albino, but now that I think of it, I'm not sure what the mechanism is for color variation in mantids. Is it pigment from the creatures they eat, or are they capable of changing color based strictly on visual cues?
Comments & Identifications
Beautifully composed images, with terrific detail. I'd never seen a mantis adapted to blend into a sandy background—only shades of green and brown.
Found some images of white mantises, if you are interested. No blue eyes.
http://www.google.com/search?q=albino+praying+mantis&hl=en&sa=X&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=FPooUMCdOeSQiALgrYHgCQ&ved=0CEMQsAQ&biw=1375&bih=724
Almost all the mantises I've found in the grasslands around here are this color, presumably to blend in with the dead annual grasses. I don't think they're albino, but now that I think of it, I'm not sure what the mechanism is for color variation in mantids. Is it pigment from the creatures they eat, or are they capable of changing color based strictly on visual cues?
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