Mallee Grass Mantis
S5, Adult Female, oscelii
Ellura
Mallee Grass Mantis
S5, Adult Female, throat
 
                      
Mallee Grass Mantis (Archimantis sobrina)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Mantises (Mantodea)
Family: Praying Mantis (Mantidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Mallee Grass Mantis (Archimantis sobrina)
This Photo:     S5, Adult Female, face
Other name: Large Brown Mantid

Thank you Ethan Beaver for identifying and Matthew Connors & Mark Hura for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
Adult females have short/half length wings; while adult males have full length wings.
The adult females we have measured are from ~85mm long (excluding cerci) to over 100mm!.
Older nymphs have wing stubs which are similar to adult female short wings. But on comparison are obviously different.
The white stripe down the back is diagnostic for this species; easy to spot in all but the adult male.
These can be green or brown, colour is not diagnostic of species. It varies as camouflage in their local environment.

Copyright © 2019-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 22-Jan-2019
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.