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This Bug Waves at You in the Forest. The Reason Surprised Scientists
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SciTechDaily
The matador bug (Bitta alipes) carries vivid reddish “flags” on its hind legs and puts on a complex leg-waving display.
The team exposed matador bugs to two different arthropods: predatory praying mantids and harmless katydids.
The results were striking: on average, bugs increased their waving behavior seven-fold in the presence of mantids, but barely responded to katydids.
Matador bug, Bitta alipes performing the flag-waving behavior in the presence of a predatory mantis.
Reference: “Flag-waving behavior in matador bugs is an antipredatory strategy” by Connor Evans-Blake, Juliette J Rubin and Ummat Somjee, 1 August 2025, Current Zoology.