Green Lacewing Firefly vs Hooded Mantis

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Green Lacewing Firefly Hooded Mantis
Scientific Name Photinus scintillans Choeradodis rhombicollis
Order Coleoptera Mantodea
Family Lampyridae Mantidae
Size 5-8 mm 60-80 mm
Habitat Grasslands Forests
Diet Omnivores Omnivores
Regions North America Central America, northern South America
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Green Lacewing Firefly

A small firefly with a bright green flash and a dark body with yellowish pronotal borders. Males produce a brief twinkling flash while flying low over grasslands and meadows.

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Did You Know?

The word scintillans means sparkling, referring to the brief twinkling quality of this species' distinctive flash.

Hooded Mantis

A Central American mantis with an enormously expanded, leaf-shaped prothorax. Its green, shield-like hood provides excellent leaf mimicry.

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Did You Know?

Its prothoracic shield is so wide and flat that it earned the nickname "hooded mantis" for its cloak-like appearance.