Mantis religiosa religiosa Linnaeus, 1778

Abu-Dannoun, Omar & Katbeh-Bader, Ahmad, 2007, Mantodea of Jordan, Zootaxa 1617, pp. 43-56 : 52

Mantis religiosa religiosa Linnaeus, 1778

Distribution: Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

Material examined: (21) specimens: Ajlune 19.VIII.03 (1N); Al Ghawr 12.XII.01 (1F); Al Jubayhah 14.III.92 (1F); Al Qaeda Street 15.VIII.05 (1N); Anjara 27.IX.04 (1F); Ar Rashayedah 13.X.03 (1F); Dayr Alla 25.V.74 (1M); Ghawr Kabid 5.V.95 (1M), 24.IX.95 (1M), 20.XI.92 (1M); Jordan Valley 20.X.96 (2F), 6.XI.92 (2M), 21.XI.? (1M); Kufrinjah 25.VIII.03 (1N); Raymoon 21.VI.05 (1N); Wadi Shu’ayb 5.III.84 (1F), 11.X.97 (1M); Waqqas 23.X.95 (1F); Zahar 7.X.03 (1M).

Remarks: The European mantis is the only cosmopolitan Jordanian species, which is recorded from Jordan for the first time. It can be easily recognized among the other Jordanian Mantodea by a black round marking (sometimes with a white circle in the middle appearing as eye spots) on the ventral side of anterior coxae. It is a slow moving, quiet species. The threat display occurs by raising its raptorial legs near the head, exposing the eyespots of anterior coxae and spreading its wings. Edmands and Brunner (1999) mentioned that Jovanica (1960) found that M. religiosa changes color in response to light intensity at different seasons. The male is much thinner than the female and flies very well at night. Kelner-Pillault (1957) mentioned that female M. religiosa could attract males from at least 100 m away ( Maxwell, 1999). This species appears between March and December.