Mantis (Pseudoyersinia teydeana)

This small mantis (21-28 cm) is exclusive to Tenerife, where it lives in Las Cañadas del Teide and the pinewoods of the montane forest belt, above 1300 m. It is rather delicate to look at, the head is wider than the thorax and the abdomen is more depressed in females than in males. Males are wingless, which adds to their fragile appearance, while females have short wings that also expose their abdominal segments. A nocturnal predator, this mantis hunts tiny insects, which it devours with the aid of powerful raptorial legs that are characteristic of this group of insects. It belongs to an African genus of mantises, which has evolved in the Canaries and has five endemic species on several islands.