This beautiful insect is an adult female praying mantis called Phyllocrania paradoxa, commonly known as the GHOST MANTIS. In the wild this species is found in a large number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa and also on the island of Madagascar, where it lives in bushes and shrubs in open scrubland and forested areas. 

In my opinion the leafy camouflage of this species is absolutely exceptional and it is even better in the flesh than it appears in these images. What makes this species even more amazing is their tiny body mass - this individual is by far the lightest adult predator in my entire animal collection, weighing in at just 0.4g!!!

The head adornment (or 'crown') of a ghost mantis is a particularly unusual-looking structure, but its asymmetric shape helps to further break up the insect's outline which aids in its cryptic camouflage. The overall effect of the camouflage allows the ghost mantis to lie in wait for unsuspecting insects, which it catches with its powerful and spine-covered front legs.

The ghost mantis occurs in a huge variety of colour forms, from almost black through every shade of brown to pale cream. The green colouration of this particular individual is the rarest colour form, with only one in ten individuals turning green! What makes this one unusual is that when she moulted to become mature she was a pale brown colour, but over around 48-72hrs she then turned green! The pictures below show the difference between her colours now, compared to when freshly matured: