So, moved a few weeks into a new place and found this mantis on my plants....no idea if she was here before I was or if she came along on the plants, now she is in my house looking for a place to lay her egg case. Nice colour either way and never seen one coloured like this.

kill her, kill her, kill her...

She is one of the invasive SA ones that are displacing our native ones

kill her, kill her, kill her...

She is one of the invasive SA ones that are displacing our native ones

Doing some Googling now....great day to be off work and inside.

yes a south african female, Miomantis caffra

google Miomantis caffra

We had one of those here over summer. Didn't realise it was a foreigner. Thought it was just an albino local.

Yip, been Googling and found out some interesting stuff. I'm well informed today

The south african ones don't have the blue dot on their fore legs and can be very variable in colour, from yellows to browns through to the more typical greens of our native one.

The south african ones don't have the blue dot on their fore legs and can be very variable in colour, from yellows to browns through to the more typical greens of our native one.

Yip, what's interesting is that if a NZ species male breeds with the SA female no hybrids are created and the male apparently can't tell the difference between the NZ female and SA female. Seems like wasted energy on the males part :dunno:

a life threatening waste of energy!

the SA females often eat the males after mating (NZ ones don't)

Oh crap saw a yellow one a few weeks back thought it was really cool damn!

Don't they alter their colour a little to suit the surroundings?

Following that theory, surely the green ones often seen on my windows should be partially see-through and dusty looking?

maybe your house windows are green with algae like your tank glass :lar:

I do not have algae on my glass :ton: