Japanese giant mantis

Amazing fact

Male Japanese giant mantises fly often, but females hardly ever fly.

国土交通省太田川河川事務所

Japanese giant mantis in its habitat (illustration)

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An illustration based on the real animal.

A little discovery to share.

Male Japanese giant mantises fly often, but females hardly ever fly.

Source国土交通省太田川河川事務所 — 太田川生物誌オオカマキリ

THE REAL WORLD

The real Japanese giant mantis

Scientific name: Tenodera aridifolia
Japanese name: オオカマキリ
Group: Insects

Class: Insecta
Order: Mantodea
Family: Mantidae
Genus: Tenodera

Facts about the real animal.

A large mantis common in thickets at forest edges and up in trees. Its body is green or brown.

国土交通省大隅河川国道事務所 — 肝属川の生き物オオカマキリ国土交通省太田川河川事務所 — 太田川生物誌オオカマキリ

When danger approaches, it raises its wings and lifts its sickle-like front legs to threaten the enemy.

国土交通省太田川河川事務所 — 太田川生物誌オオカマキリ

With its sharp, sickle-like front legs it catches mainly insects, and it sometimes even eats small snakes and frogs.

守山市 — 美崎公園とその周辺の自然（カマキリのなかま）国土交通省太田川河川事務所 — 太田川生物誌オオカマキリ

How the Japanese giant mantis lives

They mate in autumn and lay foamy egg cases on sunny branches or grass stems. They spend winter as eggs and hatch the next spring. The young molt repeatedly as they grow into adults.

国土交通省太田川河川事務所

Basic data

Size: Body length: 70–95 mm国土交通省大隅河川国道事務所
Diet: Mainly insects, sometimes small snakes and frogs国土交通省太田川河川事務所
Range: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu国土交通省太田川河川事務所

Where the Japanese giant mantis has been recorded

Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF

Where it livesJapan Asia Forests Grasslands

Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.

Names around the world

日本語: オオカマキリ
简体中文: 台湾大刀螳
繁體中文: 枯葉大刀螳
Deutsch: Japanische Riesenmantis
العربية: فرس النبي الصيني

Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.

Sources and how we check

国土交通省大隅河川国道事務所 — 肝属川の生き物オオカマキリChecked: 2026-11-04
国土交通省太田川河川事務所 — 太田川生物誌オオカマキリChecked: 2026-11-03
守山市 — 美崎公園とその周辺の自然（カマキリのなかま）Checked: 2026-11-03

We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.

The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.

The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.

This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.

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