True Facts About The Mantis

as someone who owns pet mantids, the wobble bit is SO accurate. theyre smart enough to recognize me and beg for food, but not coordinated enough to catch it unless i wave it right in front of their faces lol... dont even get me started on flying. theyre about as graceful in the air as giraffes with jetpacks

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

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

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

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.

"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!

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

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.

As a kid I enjoyed watching insects, especially bugs. When I found a mantis corpse one day.... It was the most beautiful insect I've seen. I was so proud at myself. I brought it home to show it to my mom and her friends. They started screaming for some reason.

I used to raise these when I was young back in the 60s. I was surprised to find that they can be domesticated somewhat. I had one that I simply let wander about my room. She'd come over to my desk when I was there and I'd find her something to eat. But I did find out in a very sad way what happens to them if they live longer than they should. They do indeed experience old age that's almost human-like.

For anyone curious about if Mantises will bite you, they aren't aggressive towards humans. They normally only attack things their size, or smaller. They will bite on the rare occasion if they feel threatened enough, though you just need common sense for that (no bopping them or pushing them, that kind of thing).

I watched a mantis that caught a wasp and he saved the legs and wings for last. Gathered them up in one arm as he went.

"The difference between a mantis and a teddy bear is.....everything..."

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.

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

Adlibs at the end always have me dying

I remember watching this one when it first came out and was cry-laughing at the ending for days lol "check me oouuut". Still my favorite one.

" When it's time to mate, the smaller male climbs on the back of a female,

The mantis is like a real-life Xenomorph..only much smaller, green and and have wings.

What a novel approach to science - hiring a commentary with a bizarre sense of humor. But yes, mantids are the apex predators of the insect world. I can't begin to tell you how many of my friends are deathly afraid of these critters, so much so, they are afraid to pick one up. Go ahead - they don't harm humans. And no - their forelimbs are not used as spears to pierce through objects like we saw in those space aliens in that Starship Troopers movie. But yea - their hatching brood sure look alien enough don't they?