#empusa pennata

[vrgssmncht]

MEDITERRANEAN CONEHEAD MANTIS OR EMPUSA PENNATA FOR DAY TWO LETS GOOOO

[mutant-distraction]

Conehead praying mantis (Empusa pennata), photo taken by Marta Albareda.

[onenicebugperday]

Mediterranean conehead mantis, Empusa pennata, Empusidae

Photographed in France by Bernard DuPont

[herpsandbirds]

Any praying mantis, perhaps?

I have a few mantises for you...

Giant Devil’s Flower Mantis (Idolomantis diabolica), family Empusidae, found in Eastern Africa

photograph by Igor Siwanowic

Orchid Mantis (Hymenopus coronatus), family Hymenopodidae, found in SE Asia

photograph by @sipinkara

Conehead Mantis (Empusa pennata), family Empusidae, Spain

photograph by Marta Albareda (@malbafont_macrophotography)

Chinese Shield Mantis (Asiadodis yunnanensis), family Mantidae, from Yunnan, China, above a Tropical Shield Mantis (Choeradodis rhomboidea), family Mantidae, from Perú

photograph via: mantisparadise

Red-and-yellow Slender Flower Mantis (Toxodera integrifolia), female, family Toxoderidae, Malaysia

Photograph by Chien C Lee

Asian Ant Mantis (Odontomantis planiceps), family Hymenopodidae, Malaysia

Ant mimic.

Max. length of up to 2 cm.

photograph by Juliette Lee

[razehider]

this is Empusa pennata, a mediterranean conehead mantis, and i've wanted to see one since i was eight years old. she wasn't happy about being removed from her hiding spot, my camera, or my general existence, which made photos a little complicated, but the real deterrent was the fact that for a really long time all i could do was stand there speechless

this has been my #1 local lifer for as long as i've had a concept of "animal i really wanna see one day". now that i've finally found one i dunno what my next goal could possibly be. maybe a dodo. maybe another conehead that looks exactly like this, why not. i miss her already

(September 1st, 2024)

[humansbgone]

At long last, the final mantis model is DONE! That makes all three! This guy also required a special eye rig, but luckily that turned out to be much simpler than Bicoris's. Unfortunately, he also required a lot of bespoke modeling edits on top of that, especially on his head. It was a pain to get his color scheme right, too! Not to mention all the work on his antennae.

This is Empusa, a conehead mantis (species Empusa pennata)! Finally, we see a male mantis. He takes on a lot of jobs in Mantis Swarm, with "beleaguered schoolteacher" among them. If he doesn't, who will? Mother Sophodra has enough on her plate, that's for sure.

Now that Empusa's done, I've been taking a bit of a break from modeling to get some other things done, both HBG and otherwise. For instance, I've done my most thorough outline of future episodes yet! At this rate, finishing the series will only take me...twelve more years. Hoo boy.

You might have also seen that I put out a second episode compilation last Saturday! First compilation I left out Gregorsa's Notes because I thought it would be too big a chunk of notes at once, and I figured people would go and check out notes in the individual episodes if Gregorsa gave them a nudge. Now, I know better.

Only a little modeling remains for now, on a minor character model and on a minor background asset. I might try to finish those over the weekend. Otherwise, I might just take a break from modeling for now and finish them when the staging calls for it.

Because yes, next week we finally begin on STAGING! Hopefully I can get this done in two weeks. After that, I'll take a week and aim to get what backgrounds done that Claire and I can manage. Then, all of November will be devoted to animation! A week or two of December to finish up the rest, and then it should be ready for a release that month. Festive! Until next time!

[worldsandemanations]

Conehead Mantis (Empusa pennata), family Empusidae, Spain photograph by Marta Albareda

[naturecopy]

🔥 A very colourful praying mantis (Empusa pennata)

[ro-botany]

obsessed with that orchid mantis you reblogged actually, i thought they were usually mostly white but wow. They're just so cool. Have you ever seen the vid of a construction equipment thing and the mantis? I think you'd enjoy it. It thinks it can fight a crane or whatever. total mantis move

Oh, actually that isn't an orchid mantis! Orchid mantises (Hymenopus coronatus) have a shorter body and a very smooth appearance, with distinctive tall pointy eyes and legs that look like flower petals. They do come in pink though, and they're very very pretty when they are!

But I looked around for information on the mantis in that video, and I'm pretty sure its one from the Empusa genus. Possibly Empusa pennata, aka the Mediterranean Conehead Mantis, though I can't say for sure as I don't know where the video was taken and I'm not a mantis expert lol. It's also very likely a nymph, not an adult; afaik mantises usually can't curl their abdomen up like that when they're adults, because their long wings get in the way.

These mantises also come in several different colours, but I think they look particularly stunning in pink.

Here's some more photos I found of them being gorgeous!

However I have not seen the video you mentioned and it sounds delightful. Mantises are so FIGHT ME all the time, I love them lmao. PLEASE send it to me if you have a link.

[buonsai]

Bugsona! Their name is Nada, nickname Empanada. Inspired by the Empusa pennata! A close friend of mine is studying to be an entomologist, and a few of us made sonas to celebrate him starting his second year of classes!

I've only very recently started drawing. 20 something years on Earth and l've yet to pick up a pencil for anything but storytelling. Nada is one of the first things l've ever drawn! I'm still so new to art, so please be gentle :)

(Reuploaded AGAIN because I fixed some things that bugged me, teehee. Click for slightly better quality!)

[wormsdyke]

you may think this is the humble conehead mantis (Empusa pennata) but you would be sorely mistaken, for you see this is actually a dragon,

[project-valhalla]

The conehead mantis (empusa pennata)

[barr-amzer]

Empusa pennata

[herpsandbirds]

Conehead Mantis (Empusa pennata), family Empusidae, Portugal

photograph by Frank Vassen 

[humansbgone]

I'm so used to male animals being the ones with the big showy decorations, that it took me *this* long to notice that while the males of Empusa pennata have the long, feathery antennae...it's the *females* that have the tall, elaborate crowns. Whoops. Fixing