Date: June, 2018
Location: Greenfield, MA, USA
Collected by: Margaret Minsky
Illustration by: Matteo Farinella
Observations: The Paratoxodera Florita is a species of stick mantis which evolved to perfectly imitate potted plants. Its wings, middle and posterior legs are purely decorative and have lost almost all functionality. The P. Florita stands perfectly still balanced on it lower abdomen, attracting pollinators with its spectacularly engorged antennas, before delivering a sweet deadly kiss.
Methods: analysis by Demitasse image recognition and Google Cloud Vision API
Department of Amphibological Research 