Stick mantis and twig mantis are common name

Common name

A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...

s applied to numerous species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of mantis

Mantis

Mantis is the common name of any insect in the order Mantodea, also commonly known as praying mantises. The word itself means "prophet" in Latin and Greek...

 that mimic sticks or twigs as camouflage

Camouflage

Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...

. Often the name serves to identify entire genera

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 such as is the case with:

• Brunneria
  Brunneria
  Brunneria is a genus of praying mantises in Family Mantidae. Often called stick mantis for their slender shape, the genus is native to the Americas and is represented by such species such as:...
  
  (including Brunner's stick mantis
  Brunneria borealis
  Brunneria borealis, common name Brunner's Mantis or Brunner's Stick Mantis , is a species of praying mantis native to the Southern United States. It is only species known to reproduce solely through parthenogenesis; there are no males....
  
  , the Brazilian stick mantis
  Brunneria brasiliensis
  Brunneria brasiliensis, common name Brazilian Stick Mantis, is a species of praying mantis found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay....
  
   and the small-winged stick mantis
  Brunneria subaptera
  Brunneria brasiliensis, common name Small-winged Stick Mantis, is a species of praying mantis found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Venezuela....
  
  )
• Hoplocorypha (the African stick mantises)
• Paratoxodera (including the Borneo stick mantis
  Paratoxodera borneana
  Paratoxodera borneana, common name Borneo Stick Mantis, is a species of praying mantis found in Brunei that was first identified as a subspecies of P. cornicollis....
  
   and the giant Malaysian stick mantis
  Paratoxodera cornicollis
  Paratoxodera cornicollis, common name Giant Malaysian Stick Mantis, is a species of praying mantis found in Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo....
  
  )
• Popa (African twig mantis
  Popa spurca
  Popa spurca, also known as the African twig mantis, is a species of praying mantis native to Africa. It takes its common name from its resemblance to twig from a woody plant and grows up to long if female or long if male. P. spurca is the only species in the genus Popa....
  
  )

In cases, some but not all members of a genera are called by a variation of one of these names. For example:

• Archimantis latistyla
  Archimantis latistyla
  Archimantis latistyla, commonly known as the large brown mantis is a species of mantid native to Australia. The large brown mantis has a few subspecies, and one of them is the stick mantis ghost from Bundabergs Turtle Sands...
  
  (Australian stick mantis)
• Pseudovates peruviana
  Pseudovates peruviana
  Pseudovates peruviana, common name Peruvian stick mantis, is a medium-sized species of praying mantis native to South America.As described by one breeder:...
  
  (Peruvian stick mantis)

Similar insects

Stick mantises should not be confused with stick insects (Phasmatodea

Phasmatodea

The Phasmatodea are an order of insects, whose members are variously known as stick insects , walking sticks or stick-bugs , phasmids, ghost insects and leaf insects...

) although the later were long-considered close relatives of all mantises according to classification

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...

 which is now often considered paraphyletic and outdated. Likewise, both mantises and stick insects are separate from the recently-identified Mantophasmatodea

Mantophasmatodea

Mantophasmatodea is a suborder of carnivorous African insects discovered in 2002, originally considered to be a new order, but since relegated to subordinal status, and comprising the single family Mantophasmatidae...

.

See also

• Grass mantis
  Grass Mantis
  Grass mantis is a common name mostly given to various species of praying mantis that mimic grass or other slender vegetation. Species to which this name has been applied include but are not limited to:*Glabromantis mexicana...
  
  
• Dead leaf mantis
  Dead Leaf Mantis
  Dead leaf mantis is a common name given to various species of praying mantis that mimic dead leaves. It is most often used in reference to species within genus Deroplatys because of their popularity as exotic pets. Examples include D. desiccata , D. lobata , and D. philippinica...
  
  
• Flower mantis
  Flower Mantis
  Flower Mantis is a common name given to various species of praying mantis that mimic flowers including:*Acromantis formosana *Blepharopsis mendica...
  
  
• List of mantis genera and species