Litaneutria minor
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Litaneutria minor, or the agile ground mantis or minor ground mantid, is native to the drier regions of North America. L. minor is found in the Midwest of the United States through Texas and Mexico. They are very active hunters and will be seen running across the ground from early spring to late summer.
Males and females obtain a length of about 30 millimetres (1.2 in) in the wild. The adults are usually dark grey or dark tan in color. Outer ventral margin of fore femur has 4 spines, fore femur lacks groove typical to other mantids, long thin filamentous antennae.
Males have 8 abdominal segments with a brown spot near the base of the forewings. Females have 6 abdominal segments with a rough pronotum and have no wings, usually showing wing pads however. Males appear to have much more developed wings than females, yet, do not fly.
L. minor can be observed actively hunting on open ground during sunny days. Ground mantids have only been observed hunting either on the ground or on small shrubs a few centimeters above the ground surface. As with all mantids, the front legs of L. minor are highly developed to grab and hold prey. The four spines on the fore femur... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Agile Ground Mantis sighting in Big Bend National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 221st most-seen of the 329 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–May and July–September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Agile Ground Mantis in Big Bend National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June and October–March, the lowest months.
Between 10 pm and 1 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Agile Ground Mantis sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Big Bend National Park, in our data
Big Bend National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Agile Ground Mantis sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Agile Ground Mantis is recorded against all the insects logged in Big Bend National Park (7 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
