Why the Victims of a Praying Mantis Don't Have a Prayer 🐛 Into The Wild New Zealand | Smithsonian

Here a true master of disguise hides in plain sight. A New Zealand praying mantis. Few insects are better designed hunters. It has evolved a body shape and colour that helps it blend in with its leafy surroundings. It holds its raptorial forelegs tight against its body. These are deadly weapons, edged with dagger-like spines that must be kept clean. Its wide-set compound eyes give it excellent binocular vision. And most valuable, its specially adapted neck. It can turn its head 180 degrees, a useful tool for spotting dinner. Today's victim, a bottle fly. It moves into position, silently stalking forwards. As if it didn't blend in well enough already, it gently sways to mimic leaves in the wind. Unaware of the approaching assassin, the fly innocently goes about its business. For the mantis, timing is everything. It's over in a split second. It grasps the fly in a vice-like grip and eats it alive. Its appetite is enough to take in 25 flies a day. All the better for the hunter that is now stalking it. A green and golden bell frog. For this frog, the fatter the victim, the better. The green and golden bell frog was brought from Australia to New Zealand in the 1860s. Since then, it has spread across the far north. But while the bell frog stalks the mantis, an even more formidable frog is stalking it. At nearly four inches, the southern bell frog is the largest frog in New Zealand. Its call has earned it the nickname of growling grass frog. But today it remains quiet. The silent hunter is a predator of other frogs. Somebody is going to be eaten today. But who? A locust offers itself up as the prize. Saving the mantis and the green and gold bell frog.