New Zealand Mantis

Orthodera novaezealandiae is an extremely rare mantis found throughout New Zealand and even some parts of Australia . They are a beautiful green color with clear underwings. A spectacular feature of this mantis or “praying mantis” is that it has a rectangular shaped thorax or “neck.“ These are rarely found in the mantis hobby and sell for a fairly high price, but our site has the best deals you can find! This species needs high humidity. I would only recommend this species for more experienced keepers.

This species has some other cool features like none other! Yes, they have a cool thorax, but if you look closely in the inside of their forearms, you can see a beautiful blue dot! Also, where their fore arms start, the whole segment is a vibrant yellow. Males are about one cm smaller than females. As adults, a female lays ooths or egg-sacks like every mantis. These can be any shape, size, or color, depending on the species. Some of the New Zealand mantids in my breeding stock have laid up to ten ooths! Eggs are fused inside the ooth. This mantis can hatch up to 30 mantises per ooth.

This is a photo from one of our photoshoots of an adult female Orthodera novaezealandiae. In this picture, you can see the rectangular thorax that identifies this species.

In this picture, you can see the yellow forearms and the blue dot on the raptor.