Stagmomantis limbata
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
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 |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Arizona Mantis sighting in San Francisco on a given day, based on 752 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 33rd most-seen of the 737 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Arizona Mantis in San Francisco on a given day, against under 5% in February to April, the lowest months. Those are among San Francisco's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain a month against 110 mm in December.
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.
4th of 12
Of the 12 cities where we can rate Arizona Mantis sightings, San Francisco ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Sacramento (United States, about 30%), Los Angeles (United States, about 30%) and San Diego (United States, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Arizona Mantis is recorded against all the insects logged in San Francisco (752 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.
