Overview
- The Naturschutzbund (NABU) recorded more than 2,000 reports of the European praying mantis in the last week of July, including 166 sightings from Berlin.
- Sustained warm conditions in May and June with average temperatures at or above about 17°C accelerated egg and larval growth, shifting the typical adult peak earlier and extending visibility through mid‑September.
- Mantis religiosa is native to Central Europe and not dangerous to people, and it increasingly occupies warm, dry and human‑altered sites such as former rail lines and industrial brownfields.
- NABU is asking the public to submit photos and precise locations to nabu-naturgucker.de so scientists can map the fast rise in observations and monitor the species’ spread.
- Longer term records show two genetically distinct population groups in Germany (a western and an eastern group linked to Czechia and Poland), a pattern that researchers say fits a steady northward expansion over recent decades.