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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Mantids (Mantodea) » Mantidae » Mantinae » Mantis » European Mantis (Mantis religiosa)
Photo#959210
Pale mantis - Mantis religiosa
Copyright © 2014 Richard Bicknell

Pale mantis - Mantis religiosa
Palo Alto, along East Bayshore Road near the Adobe Creek Loop Trail trailhead, Santa Clara County, California, USA
July 17, 2014
Size: About 3 1/2 inches long
Clearing brush along the bike path, looked over and saw this mantis. I have never seen a pale colored/albino? one before, a park visitor described one last week in a different part of the Baylands Preserve. Are they common?
Contributed by Richard Bicknell on 17 July, 2014 - 2:50pm

Coloration
This species exhibits a wide range of colors in the brown form. East of the Mississippi, one finds a dark variant. Out west you have beige, yellow and even a ghostly white form.
… John Stanard, 17 July, 2014 - 11:02pm

Mantis religiosa
Moved from ID Request.
The dark spot under the forearms makes this M. religiosa. As to the coloration, it seems that the coloration of this species varies widely - some are green, some are brown, and some are pale or tan, like yours.
… metrioptera, 17 July, 2014 - 2:53pm

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