Gavin Svenson / Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Liturgusa algorei, a newly discovered species of praying mantis, is named for former United States Vice President Al Gore in honor of his environmental advocacy. This male was caught in northern Peru in a rain forest by the Amazon River.
Liturgusa algorei, a newly discovered species of praying mantis, is named for former United States Vice President Al Gore in honor of his environmental advocacy. This male was caught in northern Peru in a rain forest by the Amazon River. (Gavin Svenson / Cleveland Museum of Natural History)
Gavin Svenson / Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Newly discovered praying mantis species Liturgusa krattorum is named for Martin and Chris Kratt of the television show "Wild Kratts," which teaches children about animal biology. This female bark mantis, which was captured in dense Amazonian rain forest in northern Peru, has the flat body and mottled brown patterning typical of bark mantises that allow them to blend into tree trunks.
Newly discovered praying mantis species Liturgusa krattorum is named for Martin and Chris Kratt of the television show "Wild Kratts," which teaches children about animal biology. This female bark mantis, which was captured in dense Amazonian rain forest in northern Peru, has the flat body and mottled brown patterning typical of bark mantises that allow them to blend into tree trunks. (Gavin Svenson / Cleveland Museum of Natural History)
Gavin Svenson of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History discovered 19 new species of praying mantises after combing through museum specimens and tramping through rain forests in the Amazon, as detailed in ZooKeys. Here's a sampling of these so-called bark mantises, which cling to the trunks of trees and blend in.