All printables
Orchid Mantis — printable fact sheet
Free to print or save as PDF. Great for classrooms, homeschooling, and young explorers.
Creature Atlas
Animal Fact Sheet
Name: ____________________
Date: ____________________
Orchid Mantis
Hymenopus coronatus
The orchid mantis appears to be a flower, and for a long time that was assumed to be the whole story: a predator hiding among blossoms, waiting for a pollinator to blunder past. The truth turned out to be stranger and better. When researchers actually tested it, they found that …
Did you know?
- The Orchid Mantis is one of the only insects that doesn't just blend into flowers—it actively mimics them to attract and ambush pollinators for food.
- It attracts more pollinating insects than real flowers do — bees prefer the mantis to the blossom it imitates. That makes it the first known case of a predator being a better lure than the model it copies. It does not hide among flowers; it sits in the open and lets the insects come to it. Its colour can shift between white and pink over successive moults.
What I learned
Draw the orchid mantis
© Creature Atlas · www.creatureatlas.com · Free for classroom & personal use
Want the whole set?
Get printable fact-sheet packs, coloring pages, and classroom worksheet bundles for dozens of animals — ready to download and print.
Browse printable packsGet a free printable each week
Join the newsletter for a new Creature of the Week + printables.