Sub-adult female ghost mantis

Description Phyllocrania Paradoxa (Subadult)
Date 27 August 2007
Author Mydriatic https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Mydriatic
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phyllocrania_Paradoxa_Subadult.JPG

Phyllocrania paradoxa, common name ghost mantis, is a small species of mantis from Africa remarkable for its leaf-like body. It is one of the three species in the genus Phyllocrania. Compared to many other praying mantises, the ghost mantis is a "miniature species" growing to only about 45 to 50 millimetres long. Phyllocrania paradoxa is camouflaged so as to appear as dead, dried-up leaf material. Order: Mantodea, Family: Hymenopodidae, Subfamily: Epaphroditinae.