Newly discovered mantis species dances like a snake to avoid death after sex
The snake-tail mantis shows there’s more to these insects than just cannibalism.
Female praying mantises are notorious for eating their mates during or after sex. Now, scientists have discovered a dwarf mantis species in which males avoid this fate with an elaborate dance performance.
During this love dance, the male moves its abdomen in various ways: sometimes sinuously like the coils of a serpent and sometimes jerkily like the tail of a rattlesnake. This unique behavior inspired its name—the snake-tail mantis (Ameles serpentiscauda)—and helped researchers identify it as a new species, as reported in the journal Ethology Ecology & Evolution.
“We were aware that some dwarf mantises perform courtship displays,” says Roberto Battiston, Naturalist Curator at the Museo di Archeologia e Scienze Naturali “G. Zannato” in Montecchio Maggiore, Italy and a co-discoverer of the new species. “But we never saw anything like this.”
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Mysterious mantises
There are around 2,500 known species of praying mantis, according to biologist Christopher Oufiero, head of the Towson University Mantis Lab.
“When most people think of these insects, it is the typical big, green mantis, but there is a lot of diversity in the group,” says Oufiero, who was not involved in the new discovery. “Mantises have some of the most diverse camouflage strategies in the animal kingdom, mimicking leaves, sticks, flowers, and moss, among other things.”
This diversity extends beyond appearance, to behavior — at least, what little is known of it. Despite the insects being relatively large and charismatic, much of mantis behavior, especially mating behavior, remains a mystery.
“Mantises are good at not being found. It’s kind of what they do,” says Lohitashwa Garikipati, a doctoral student at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, who was not involved in the new discovery. “Because of that they often don't have easily observable behavior or ecology.”
The discovery of the snake-tail mantis began with a chance encounter in the summer of 2024. While on holiday on a remote beach in Sardinia, an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea, Battiston’s colleague Oscar Maioglio spotted some dwarf mantises on shrubs a few dozen yards from the shoreline. He thought they resembled Ameles andreae, a known species of dwarf mantis, except that their wings were smaller than expected. Intrigued, he collected a few individuals to rear back in his lab.
Battiston says that distinguishing one dwarf mantis species from another is challenging, since the insects measure only around one inch long, and different species may look similar. But when he and Maioglio saw the specimens mating, they knew these mantises did not belong to any other known species.
“We see in this study that dwarf mantis species have different ‘love languages,’ unique courtship displays where they move body parts in different ways,” says Battiston. “Each species evolved a different way to communicate, which is incredible for insects that are mostly solitary.”
Discovery raises more questions
The small wings and serpentine courtship dance of the collected specimens strongly suggested they belonged to a unique, never-before-documented species. Genetic analyses confirmed it.
“It’s nice to see that the authors used an integrative approach, combining phylogenetics, morphology [body shape and function], and behavior to identify a new species,” says Oufiero.
One major open question is the function of these courtship displays. Do they help the female recognize the male as a member of her species? Do they distract or “enchant” the female so the male can approach her safely? Whatever the deeper meaning, scientists theorize that performing a courtship dance reduces the male’s risk of the female eating him after mating. And it seems to succeed: The researchers observed no sexual cannibalism among the lab-reared snake-tail mantises.
“Why or how selection for this mating display may have occurred remains to be seen,” says Garikipati. “But I think it is an interesting clue that tells us that these little animals are probably a lot more complicated than we give them credit for. It shows that mantises do a lot more than just cannibalism.”
Battiston agrees. “There are so many areas of mantis behavior to study — their courtship behavior, their camouflage, their hunting abilities, the way they perceive the world,” he says. “Mantises are like the tigers of our gardens. But we know everything about tigers and nothing about mantises.”
There is some urgency behind Battiston’s eagerness to learn more about the snake-tail mantis. As far as he and his colleagues can tell, the new species is only found in a restricted area of a few hundred yards along the Sardinian coastline. Most of this habitat lies inside a protected area. However, increasing tourism and overgrazing by sheep and goats could threaten the entire species’ existence.
As coordinator of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of mantises, Battiston helps assess the conservation status of mantis species around the world. To ensure the future of the snake-tail mantis, he and his colleagues have proposed that the IUCN categorize it as Critically Endangered and recommended stricter measures to preserve its habitat.
“In my experience, we are losing more species than we are discovering,” Battiston says. “So I hope we can protect this one.”
