Praying Mantis (Papo - Wild Animals)

Walkaround of the praying mantis, Mantis religiosa (Linnaeus, 1758) by Papo, Wild Animals, new for 2019. This is Papo's third arthropod, following the amazing European wolf spider and yellow fat-tailed scorpion from 2016. They probably wanted to see how those sales would go, hence a three-year gap until the release of this mantis.

Mantids are very common among generic, bin-style figures. It can generally be assumed that most mantid figures not marketed to the species level probably represent M. religiosa, with the exception of Japanese figures which generally represent Tenodera aridifolia (see that last image for comparison with other praying mantises).

The figure is very nice! It measures roughly 8.0-9.0 cm (hard to measure with the bend at the prothorax-mesothorax juncture), making it 1:1 for a very large female specimen, or slightly larger than 1:1 for an average-sized specimen. As with the wolf spider and scorpion, the detail and paint scheme are remarkable.

This is a very nice figure. I hope it sells well, to encourage Papo to make more arthropods. Arthropods by CollectA and Safari LTD have been few and far between in the last few years, so it would be nice to Papo take over this realm. We also had the first arthropods this year by Mojo Fun and Schleich, so maybe we are seeing a new trend in taxonomic diversity!

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With other praying mantises by Western companies, including those by Safari LTD (x2), CollectA, K&M International, and a very large vintage figure by Jasman Toys.

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Phantastic pics and figurines

One of my fave insects - great mini review and pics, loving your collection :)

Thank you for the review Blaine, the model is very beautiful as the other Papo arthropods.

You convinced me to buy the spider and scorpio and I will do the same with this one.

It is my small contribution to encourage Papo to please you

hahaha, thanks everyone!

BEAUTYFUL

I missed this wonderful topic of a fantastic replica of what was my favourite insect as a kid.
I remember spending hours searching for a praying mantis.
I've always found these creatures bizarre but extremely interesting. I love weird things and I may add it to my spider and scorpion.