Stage Duration, Size and Coloration of Two Praying Mantises, Tenodera aridifolia (STOLL) and Tenodera angustipennis SAUSSURE (Mantodea, Mantidae)

Two praying mantises, Tenodera aridifolia and T. angustipennis, were reared under quasi-natural conditions in Kyoto to compare stage durations, body lengths and body colors. In both species, most individuals grew to adults through 7 nymphal instars (7-instar type), while a few males (15.0% in T. aridifolia ; 11.1% in T. angustipennis) through 6 instars (6-instar type). In the 7-instar type, adults of T. aridifolia were larger (78.4 and 83.5 mm in male and female mean body lengths) than those of T. angustipennis (75.0 and 78.4 mm). Nymphs hatched between April 26 and June 11 in T. aridifolia and between June 8 and 15 in T. angustipennis, and total nymphal durations of T. aridifolia were longer (96.4 and 94.5 days in males and females) than those of T. angustipennis (76.8 and 72.8 days) in the 7-instar type. In both species, males of 6-instar type were larger than those of 7-instar type in the 6th instar, but the size relation was reversed in the adult. Adults of the green type were more common than those of the brown type in both species ; the rate of green type was larger in T. angustipennis (91.0%) than in T. aridifolia (65.4%). Ratios of green to brown type were also larger in T. angustipennis than in T. aridifolia in the fields of Kyoto and Osaka. Some individuals changed the body color from green to brown after the 3rd instar stage when the green or brown coloration became distinct.