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Alexander Dudley | all galleries >> Australian Invertebrates >> Insects > Ant-mimicking Preying Mantis
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04-MAY-2008 İAlexander Dudley 2008

Ant-mimicking Preying Mantis

Doongan Station, Kimberley, WA

This small preying mantis from the Kimberley region looks remarkably like a common ant it shares its habitat with, so much so
that I had difficulty convincing a colleague that I was not being funny when I told her it was an ant-mimicking preying mantis.
Later there was a discussion about the correct pronounciation of "batesian" given that this form of mimicry was first recorded by
Henry Walter Bates, not Norman Bates the famous psychopath.

Nikon D200 ,Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D AF Micro
1/200s f/16.0 at 60.0mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Martyn Robinson 03-Jun-2008 00:24
I've seen these or one very similar in Cape York at a place called North Camp (south of Aurukun) interestingly at their final moult they have wings and are brown and un-ant like and their behaviour also changes and they sit on tree trunks. the ant trick only seems to work while they're ant sized.
Yvonne23-May-2008 01:07
An amazing shot!