Iris oratoria
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Iris oratoria, known by the common name Mediterranean mantis (or less frequently iris mantis), due to humans first studying it in lands around the Mediterranean Sea, is a species of praying mantis. Its range is expanding in the Middle East, Western Asia and the United States.
Albania, Bulgaria, Brač Island, Korčula Island, France (Including Corsica), Greece (Including Ionian Islands, Crete, Cyclades Islands), Italy (Including Sardinia, Sicily), North Macedonia, Portugal, Spain (Including Balearic Islands), Yugoslavia (Including Serbia, Kosovo, Voivodina, Montenegro), North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, North Chad), Cyprus, West, Central and South Asia (Asian Turkey, India, Israel, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, Turkestan), Non-native to the Southwestern United States (Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas.).
I. oratoria is very pale when young but matures to grass green, and grows to about 6.5 cm (2.6 in) long. The species may be distinguished from Mantis religiosa and other mantids with which it shares a range and general size and shape by the red-orange spot on the ventral side of the fourth (second to last) abdominal... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mediterranean Mantis sighting in Madrid on a given day, based on 45 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 99th most-seen of the 457 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Mediterranean Mantis in Madrid on a given day, against under 5% in December to May, the lowest months. That is one of Madrid's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain against 65 mm in October.
Between 6 and 9 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mediterranean Mantis sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
9th of 15
Of the 15 cities where we can rate Mediterranean Mantis sightings, Madrid ranks 9th at about 10%. The best odds are in Mesa (United States, about 30%), Ciudad Juárez (México, about 30%) and Phoenix (United States, about 20%).
Same order: Mantodea
The closest relatives of the Mediterranean Mantis that you can see in Madrid (order Mantodea, Mantises) are European Mantis (about 10%), Mediterranean Conehead Mantis (about 10%) and Transcaucasian Giant Mantis (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mediterranean Mantis is recorded against all the insects logged in Madrid (45 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.
