It might look like a beautiful flower but it’s actually a deadly predator… Meet a very innocent-looking, cold-hearted mass killer

One of the world’s most beautiful insects, the orchid mantis, is just too beautiful to be taken seriously as a deadly predator – but that’s what it is says Stuart Blackman.

Camouflage is usually about hiding. And plenty of insects deploy colours and patterns that allow them to blend in amongst flowers.

But this gorgeous denizen of Southeast Asian forests doesn’t want to hide; it wants to be seen.

The disguise attracts pollinating insects in search of nectar, which the mantis snatches from the air when they get close enough.

In fact, experiments have shown that the mantis attracts more insects than a real flower does.