True Facts About The Mantis

true facts every thursday.

CREDITS:

Film Footage courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc., Used by Permission
Photos Licensed by: (titles and authors in order of appearance)

European mantis. Empusa pennata

A spiny flower mantis is sitting on a rolled leaf.

A Ghost mantis nymph is sitting on a branch.

Empusa fasciata mantis

Praying Mantis. on white background

A Thai green mantis is posing for a portrait.

praying mantis staring back with leg in mouth. In the act of grooming

Praying Mantis head shot taken with a Macro lens

A thai green mantis nymph is putting his front foot on a cricket that is too big to eat.

A Chinese mantis nymph is eating a cricket while standing on a leaf.

A macro shot of an Australian Praying Mantis eating a cricket

Praying Mantis eating a Monarch Butterfly on purple flowers

A praying mantis sees a grasshopper and is surprised.

Face Off!

Mantis vs Hummingbird, Rematched

Praying mantis mating and eating

Mantis

Two female praying mantis fighting
Richard Fellinger/Picture Press/Getty

A mantis while eating her mate

Mantis nymphs are being born from an egg case. They emerge attached to a tiny silk line.

Mantis nymphs are emerging from an egg case after incubating for about 5 weeks.

Extreme macro shot of a Praying mantis

Praying Mantis

Portrait of the Praying Mantis close-up 1:1 isolated on wite

Female Praying Mantis, Rhombodera Basalis, in front of white background

Mantis on the rock

Green mantis eats a grasshopper

Green mantis eats a grasshopper

[julianzabala]

Mantis: "I've mastered the ability of standing so incredibly still, that I become invisible to the eye"

[jonahdavis]

"The difference between a mantis and a teddy bear

[KatTang]

"What? I'm just touchin' him."
"Just kidding."

Legendary

[tehuselessguig]

"excellent eyesight, which you hope it would, given the fact that it has 5 freaking eyes"

spiders have 8 and they're half blind!

[accesssanity]

Stay alive or get laid. The ultimate decision.

[jakefoo]

I would love it if this dude was my science teacher.

[legosam]

“What would plop out of a nightmare that farted too aggressively”

I lost it!!

[wandererinthedust]

"The mantis has a complex chewing mouth. To understand it, imagine if you had a mustache underneath your lip, made entirely of fingers." ----> so Dr. Zoidberg!

[williamgiguere]

"A mantis ... with a laser beam"

Genesect ?

[RonAnecdotes]

Everyone, I have bad news, I actually googled it and now I can confirm, there IS pornography of live tennis.

[ChuckFury]

Males having to answer the question, "Stay alive or get laid?" will NEVER result in the extiction of any species.

[luijo]

" When it's time to mate, the smaller male climbs on the back of a female, *preferably one that's eating* "

[Connor_Tyler]

Scientists are starting to think that females eating the heads of their mates aren't nearly as common as we thought. Pretty much all of that data is based on in-lab experiments and observation, which introduces an incredible stress factor; it's actually much rarer to occur in the wild, and usually occurs with older, infirm males who are unlikely to produce healthy offspring.

[tonylyle]

"Stay alive... or get laid..."

These are the dilemmas people deal with ever day.

[internetuser]

There are many types of mantids, none of which have laser beams, but many of which resemble what would fall out of a nightmare that farted too aggressively.

[zombified_pariah]

"Imagine having a mustache underneath your lip...made entirely out of fingers."

"Stay alive...or get laid."

This video has the most memeable and best out of context quotes ever. How have these not become memes? Lmfao

[Crowley]

Apparently the idea that mantis females eat the male during or after mating is greatly exaggerated. It happens a lot under laboratory conditions, probably due to the stress of the captivity and unnatural environment. When their mating is observed discreetly in natural conditions with hidden cameras (as you would do with anyone), such behaviour turns out to be very rare.

[IanMaCee]

If a mantis was as big as a dog they would take over the world.

[alisonnumber]

I scrolled down.. thinking the video was over.. then "Hey there...It's cool...Whaddup...Heyyyy... What's up??? What you looking at???CHECK ME OUT...."

[lordofbanana]

They are really adorable to me. When you talk to them they actually look you straight in your eyes most of the time and they do that cute wobble movement to aid their depth perception. Also young mantises (at like the second molt) are extremely fast and they can run up your whole arm before you know what's happening. They would never harm you though and also they eat annoying insects like flies pretty early on in their life cycle and even wasps when they're fully grown. I love them.