Giant Devil's Flower Mantis (Idolomantis Diabolica)

In the wilds of Tanzania, East Africa lives one of the largest mantis species in the world. The Giant Devil's Flower Mantis (Idolomantis diabolica) starts life small but this impressive species blooms into massive, colorful adults. 

This nymph is only the first of many, as the large oothecae (egg mass) of this species can produce over 100 nymphs. He's orange now but as the exoskeleton hardens it will become black and glossy like an ant.

Even the young of the Giant Devil's Flower Mantis are much larger than those of other mantid species. While other nymphs are limited to prey as small as fruit flies and gnats, these little giants are capable of taking down prey as large as a blue bottle fly within days of hatching.

Many insects produce large numbers of young because most will not survive to adulthood. Harsh environmental conditions, limited prey, cannibalism and predation take their toll on the young. Large numbers assure that there will be enough adults at the end of the season to reproduce and sustain the species.

The eggs are encased in a protective mass of protein whipped into foam, and meticulously laid in place by special appendages on the mother mantid's abdomen. As she lays each egg these appendages work to introduce air into the excreted liquid protein to act as padding. When the protein dries it hardens into a case that will protect the delicate eggs from the outside world.

It's not uncommon for very young nymphs of many insect species to be black. This is often a survival tactic. By mimicking the appearance of ants they will be ignored by most predators.

Here we see a subadult male. He now stands a full 3 inches (7.6 cm) tall, but females of the species are even larger. Take note of the wide shield on his back (pronotum). At this stage the antennae are very thick because inside they are developing into the feathery sense organs he'll have as an adult. 

His wing buds are also much larger as they prepare to become fully functional wings. There will be many other changes accompanying his transition to adult.

This male will become adult after his next molt. The thick antennae are a sure indication of his sex. Unlike species outside family Empusidae, adult males possess feathery antennae similar to a moth. Right now those sensitive organs are forming inside the antennae just waiting to uncoil after molt.

The broad shield of the Giant Devil's Flower Mantis is another of its visually striking traits. Most other mantid species with a prominent pronotum feature shapes intended to mimic leaves as a form of camouflage. In the case of the Giant Devil's Flower Mantis the intention appears to be exaggeration of size.

Mantids possess a total of 5 eyes. Between the 2 large compound eyes, there are 3 simple eyes (or ocelli). The compound eyes give the mantis depth perception allowing them to judge distance and accurately strike at prey, while it is thought the simple eyes detect light levels and assist in flight stabilization. The simple eyes are more developed in males because as adults they depend on flight to find a mate.