Praying Mantis Decapitated by Ant Swarm | Superswarm | BBC Earth

A lone praying mantis picks off a few ants before the colony calls for backup.

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Superswarm (2009)
When animals swarm they create a super-organism of incredible power. They can attack our food supplies, immobilise our transport systems, undermine our cities and even attack our energy supplies. They can stop us in our tracks. Using state-of-the-art photography, Superswarms reveals the collective intelligence behind the animal invasions, and how man fights back.

Welcome to BBC EARTH! The world is an amazing place full of stories, beauty and natural wonder. Here you'll find 50 years worth of entertaining and thought-provoking natural history content. Dramatic, rare, and exclusive, nature doesn't get more exciting than this.

[hectorberber]

reminder that the mantis has one of the best eyes in the insect world, he was seeing all that in 4k

[ahsananwar]

I'm so glad that ants are the size they are

[Styrophoamicus]

Imagine eating a granola bar then your granola bar calls for reinforcements and they all rip your head off.

[squilliamfancyson]

Mantis didn't seem too bothered being eaten alive. He was just like "ah well, my future wife would have done the same thing to me anyways"

[mikenike]

Props to the ant who filmed inside of the nest!

[totallyrealreactions]

In terms of scale, this is pretty much the equivalent of you going hunting, and you catch a squirrel, but then all of a sudden you’re swarmed by squirrels until they literally bite your head off

[overworlder]

The mantis seemed fairly relaxed about the proceedings.

[kittypost]

“They gather lumps of mud and bury the problem”
Wish I could do that with all my problems

[littleslimedude]

why is nobody talking about the millipede at the beginning, like
*evolves to become poisonous so it doesn't get eaten*
ants: *slaughter it anyways*

[Guywiththesuitcase]

One minute your chillin out, having a snack, the next minute you're being decapitated. Such is life.

[wildlifeisthewealthofnatur]

That's the first time I have seen any insect grabbing a mantis by jaws.

[dlwpb]

The dying ant's signal --- "avenge me brothers"

[jfrank]

The serial "decapitator" became the *nature*

[galling]

Grabing a bull by its horns. meh
Biting a mantis in the jaws. real shit

[jaylenware]

Ants: Call an ambulance...
Mantis: :)
Ants: *But not for me*
Mantis: :(

[tazbehdjet]

Nothing can beat team work you mess with one ant you mess with 1000s brutal

[gnimnuh]

Mantis: *I knew my head would be decapitated but not like this*

[ashla]

That reaction to the poisonous insect was incredible, ants are truly impressive when it comes to their intelligence

[Em-tdkc]

How kind of those ants to give the millipede a proper burial 🙏

[cybercyke]

Mantis came for dinner but became the main course real quick.