Printable View
My oldest boy recently acquired a praying mantis! He saved the poor thing from a spiders web and put her in an aquarium!
My children watched her all morning catching flies in mid air to squeals of delight!
For those of you who dont know, these are feisty critters and deadly!!
I linked a couple of youtube videos to give you an idea about how tough they are:YouTube - Praying Mantis Vs Hummingbird
YouTube - Praying Mantis Attacks Snake!
YouTube - Praying Mantis versus Mouse
Wow, that's unreal! I never knew they could do that! The biggest one I've ever seen was maybe a couple inches long. I wish they would have caught the attack on the humming bird on tape!
This one is about 3 inches long!
WOW, and that is all i can really say about that
-dan-
You think THEY'RE something!
YouTube - THEM!
i am so buying that movie
-dan-
That's an old "Creature Feature" standby. We grew up with that stuff.
On the subject of the mantis; the science teacher that I'm student teaching with has a crazy video that he shot of a mantis killing a bee. The mantis grabbed the bee and, by biting and spinning the bee around, cut the bee's head off. The best part is you can hear his students in the background freaking out.
I saw Them this summer; my girlfriend's dad insisted we had to watch it. I have to say, it was quite well done and held my attention the whole way through.
I guess I knew they were fierce--that whole biting-the-head-off-during-mating thing, though apparently it's not usual in the wild--but those videos are just eerie. I'm certainly glad they don't grow any bigger.
Rich
That blows me away at how fast they seem to be in those videos. Wow.
Chris L
It is impossible for the male mantis to mate with his head still attached, and i tought STD's were scary. Female mantis are guranteed a virgin each and every time.
Matt
does that mean reproducing sucks everytime?:roflmao:rofl2:Quote:
Originally Posted by mhailey
Wow. Amazing vids!
I used to study Wahlum Northern Mantis style kung fu.
YouTube - Wah Lum Tam Tui Northern Praying Mantis Kung Fu
I used to think the mantis was the chief ass kicker in the insect world however in Southern Japan they have giant hornets that can kill and eat a mantis in seconds. They usually jump on its back and decapitate it. The mantis is defenseless against it.
i have seen a show about these i think, are they the ones that attack other bee hives and it only takes like ten of them to destroy an entire hive oh bees? if so they are frickin awesome and crazy bigQuote:
Originally Posted by thebigspendur
-dan-
yes they are and a good number of people are killed by them in japan each year. I had a run in with one many years ago when I was in the navy in that part of the world. They are the largest and meanest looking creatures (insect wise) I have ever seen. I'm sure there are some bigger beatles and things in the tropics but these things will scare the bejesus out of you if one landed on you.Quote:
Originally Posted by sinnfein