Gender dictates camouflage strategy in this newly identified praying mantis group

EarthzineBiodiversity

(Pensoft Publishers) Adult females and males in a new genus of Latin American praying mantises have sharply different approaches to camouflage, according to a Cleveland Museum of Natural History-led study in the open access journal ZooKeys. Males retain the stick-like appearance they employ as nymphs, while females morph into a leaf’s shape and color. This peculiarity prompted the researchers to name the mantises after Mexican comedian Chespirito, whose catch-phrase was “They didn’t count on my cleverness!”