About Empusa pennata (Thunberg, 1815)
Empusa pennata, commonly known as the conehead mantis, is a species of praying mantis belonging to the genus Empusa. It is native to the Mediterranean Region, and can be found in Portugal, Spain, southern France, Italy, and along the Mediterranean coasts of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Turkey, and Egypt. This species is rarely encountered in the wild; this is attributed to either its cryptic natural behavior, or possibly its fragmented populations that occur at low densities. Like other mantises, conehead mantises stalk their prey before pouncing, and grasp captured prey using their specialized raptorial forelegs. They only select living prey, and consume it immediately after catching it. As mantises orient themselves using vision, they only notice moving prey. The maximum size of prey a mantis can overwhelm varies by mantis species and depends on the type of prey. On average, mantises consume crickets that are 50% of their own body weight, while they can take cockroaches that weigh up to 110% of their own body weight.
