Killer Couture
Insect Design
While traveling in Indonesia in 1879, Australian journalist James Hingsley documented an orchid that trapped butterflies in its petals and then consumed them.1 But this orchid was no bloodthirsty blossom—it was the cleverly cloaked orchid mantis.
Many creatures camouflage to evade predators, but the orchid mantis uses its costume to attract a meal. Its disguise works so well that the floral look-alike attracted more pollinators than nearby flowers in one experiment.2
Despite its name, the orchid mantis does not completely mimic any one species of orchid. Rather, scientists believe the insect’s pinkish-white hues and petal-shaped legs imitate flowers in general, tricking all kinds of foraging pollinators into thinking the insect is a blossom laden with delectable nectar.
This hunter’s masterful disguise points to the care of an ingenious Creator who crafted each of his creatures with the genetic information to adapt to a fallen world—including creatures who are dressed to kill.
Answers Magazine
October–December 2025
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Browse IssueFootnotes
- James Hingston, The Australian Abroad. Branches from the Main Routes Round the World (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1879).
- James C. O’Hanlon, Gregory I. Holwell, and Marie E. Herberstein, “Pollinator Deception in the Orchid Mantis,” The American Naturalist 183, no. 1 (January 2014): 126–32, https://doi.org/10.1086/673858.
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