Wandering Violin Mantis

Gongylus gongylodes — the wandering violin mantis or Indian rose mantis — is one of about 30 species in family Empusidae and one of the most morphologically extreme mantises in the world. Adults reach 11-15 cm body length. The body is elongated into stick-like proportions; each leg carries dramatic leaf-shaped lobes; the head bears a tall pointed crest; and the body color and pattern (mottled brown, green, and pale tan) closely match the dry leaf-litter and twig habitat of southern Indian dry deciduous forest, where the species is endemic. The species is exclusively a flower-and-twig hunter — like the related devil's flower mantis (Idolomantis diabolica) and ghost mantis (Phyllocrania paradoxa), the wandering violin spends most of her time hanging upside-down on vegetation, ambushing flying insects with her raptorial forelegs. Empusidae mantises share a unique trait among Mantodea: feathered antennae (in males), used for long-distance pheromone detection. Wandering violins are widely kept in the exotic mantis hobby community because of the dramatic appearance, but they are notoriously delicate to maintain — they require very high temperatures (28-32°C), low humidity, almost exclusively flying-insect prey, and fail at moulting if humidity is even slightly off.