A lichen with legs
On a lichen-covered tree trunk in Florida, the grey bark seemed to have grown a mantis. The grizzled mantis is a master of one of nature’s favourite tricks: looking like something that is not alive.
This is Gonatista grisea, sometimes called the grizzled mantis, a member of the family Epaphroditidae. Its body is mottled in greys, whites and browns, an almost perfect match for the lichens that cover the bark of trees in the southeastern United States. When it presses itself flat against the trunk, it becomes effectively invisible to both prey and predators.
Unlike the large, showy mantises of gardens, this is a slender, bark-dwelling specialist. It hunts by sitting still and letting insects come to it, relying on the lichen camouflage to do the heavy lifting. The flattened body and muted colours are an adaptation to a life spent in plain sight, but unnoticed.
Finding one takes a patient eye. The reward is a glimpse of evolution’s favourite art form: the ability to disappear.
