Banded flower mantis, Theopropus elegans Westwood, 1832 of south Sabah / Borneo

Theopropus elegans Westwood 1832, the banded flower mantis, is the type species of the Asian genus Theopropus in the family Hymenopodidae. It is widely distributed in Southeast Asia, recorded from Myanmar, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra Java and Borneo, and is associated with forest habitats where effective camouflage and a tendency to use the canopy likely make encounters infrequent. Adults are strongly sexually dimorphic with males markedly smaller than females, and the forewings show a conspicuous white transverse band with dark margins that is typical for the genus. The species was described as Blepharis elegans in 1832 and later placed in Theopropus when Saussure established the genus in 1898. The epithet elegans is classical Latin for elegant, and the generic name corresponds to the Ancient Greek theopropos meaning prophetic or envoy to an oracle.