Stagmomantis limbata
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
Stagmomantis limbata, common name bordered mantis, bosque mantis, Arizona mantis, or New Mexico praying mantis, is a species of praying mantis native to North America, most prevalent in the south-western United States. This beneficial insect is green or beige in color and grows up to around 3 inches long.
Stagmomantis limbata are attracted to lights, and males often fly to lights in numbers, but females are unable to fly. S. limbata is one of the largest mantids native to North America, though it is much smaller than some African and Asian mantids such as species in the genera Sphodromantis and Hierodula. Females grow to 3 inches in body length, while males grow to about 2 inches. This makes them larger than other species in their genus, such as S. carolina. The facial plate (below and between antennae) is about twice as wide as it is long, typical of the genus, though the eyes are not as protruding as the Carolina Mantid's. Both males and females of this species are separated by nearly all others in Stagmomantis (except for S. montana) by their blue labrum.
Females are most often fairly plain green (often with a yellowish abdomen), but sometimes gray... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | San Luis Potosí | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 6 | Puebla | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 7 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 8 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report an Arizona Mantis sighting in Los Angeles on a given day, based on 5,559 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 851 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August to November
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Arizona Mantis in Los Angeles on a given day, against about 10% in February to May, the lowest months. Those are among Los Angeles's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain a month against 75 mm in February.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Arizona Mantis sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 12 cities where we can rate Arizona Mantis sightings, Los Angeles ranks 2nd at about 30%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Sacramento (United States, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Arizona Mantis is recorded against all the insects logged in Los Angeles (5,559 verified sightings), 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.
