Mantophasmatidae

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Mantophasmatidae is a family of carnivorous, wingless insects living in southern Africa. They are part of a group called Mantophasmatodea. Some scientists place Mantophasmatodea and Grylloblattodea close together in a larger group called Notoptera, while others treat them as separate orders within an even bigger clade.

Common names for these insects include gladiators, rock crawlers, heelwalkers, mantos, and mantophasmids. Today they are mainly found in western South Africa and Namibia, especially around the Brandberg Massif. There is also a relict population in Tanzania (Tanzaniophasma subsolana). Fossil finds show that this group used to have a wider ancient distribution.

Mantophasmatidae adults are wingless and resemble a mix between a praying mantis and a stick insect. They are carnivores, catching small animals. During courtship, they communicate with vibrations that travel through the ground or surrounding substrate.

The group was only formally discovered in the 21st century, but earlier specimens known from museum collections included Mantophasma zephyra from Namibia and Mantophasma subsolana from Tanzania, plus a 45-million-year-old fossil in Baltic amber (Raptophasma kerneggeri). Live specimens were found in Namibia in 2002: Tyrannophasma gladiator on the Brandberg Massif and Mantophasma zephyra on the Erongo Massif. Since then, scientists have described several new genera and species, including two genera named Kuboesphasma and Minutophasma, each with a single species, from Richtersveld in South Africa in 2018.

As of 2018, there are 21 described living species. Mantophasmatodea, the group containing Mantophasmatidae, is still the subject of classification debates, with some researchers keeping it as its own order and others placing it together with Grylloblattodea in Notoptera or within a broader clade Xenonomia.