Praying mantis

[francois]

Man, these creatures are interesting.

Look at this thing eat a mouse!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNcIUIULafw

Yeah, you just saw an insect eat a mammal.

They should call it a preying mantis. Seriously, these things freak me out, although I've come to think they're pretty awesome. Have you ever seen one in real life?

[francois]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYp_Xi4AtAQ

I just did you all another favor by linking you to a new video of post coital cannibalism. This shit is awesome.

[Nesm]

This one was funny. As soon as the camera lens came close to it, it would try to hit it and jump / climb onto the lens. Curious little creatures indeed.

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/3337/p1000198.jpg

[Dr Mabuse]

Fastest strike on earth. Bar nothing.

They almost defy physics they are so fast.

Yes I've handled many of them, they are wonderful. I've also seeded(bought eggs) them for many years to add to the population around where I live.

[Enmos]

I've also seeded(bought eggs) them for many years to add to the population around where I live.

Uh.. why??

[ScaryMonster]

Man, these creatures are interesting.

Look at this thing eat a mouse!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNcIUIULafw

Yeah, you just saw an insect eat a mammal.

They should call it a preying mantis. Seriously, these things freak me out, although I've come to think they're pretty awesome. Have you ever seen one in real life?

Yeah I put one out on the long grass yesterday, they can grow quite big.

[ScaryMonster]

Fastest strike on earth. Bar nothing.

They almost defy physics they are so fast.

Yes I've handled many of them, they are wonderful. I've also seeded(bought eggs) them for many years to add to the population around where I live.

I beg to differ! The Peregrine Falcon is the fastest animal in the world, but I guess the Mantis has the fastest strike in the insect world.

[Enmos]

Yeah I put one out on the long grass yesterday, they can grow quite big.

You "put one out"?
What do you mean by that? Did you 'end it' or did you release it? :p

[Enmos]

I beg to differ! The Peregrine Falcon is the fastest animal in the world, but I guess the Mantis has the fastest strike in the insect world.

The fastest muscle movement in the world:

Marc Seid and Jeremy Niven of the Smithsonian
Tropical Research Institute in Panama revealed that termites reach a speed of 70.4 m (220 ft) per second, even if over a distance of only 1.76 mm.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-Fastest-Muscle-Movement-in-the-World-62200.shtml

[Orleander]

I think their accent is cool
http://thm-a04.yimg.com/image/4aa8464684d92ce6

[Dr Mabuse]

I beg to differ! The Peregrine Falcon is the fastest animal in the world, but I guess the Mantis has the fastest strike in the insect world.

Wow.

You had trouble understanding my point? It was so simple and direct.

[Dr Mabuse]

Uh.. why??

For the same reason people the world over do.

[Randwolf]

They should call it a preying mantis. Seriously, these things freak me out, although I've come to think they're pretty awesome. Have you ever seen one in real life?

Many, many, many times, in the US from North to South and East to West. They leave interesting and very distinctive "egg sacs" on trees and such as well.

Another interesting fact, if you are not a male praying mantis, is the females' tendency to eat their male companion after mating. (but not always)

I have seen them almost 6 inches long, plus witnessed them "attack" and eat prey, but never a mouse or other mammal.

That was awesome, dude!

[Randwolf]

Uh.. why??
Enmos, they eat many other harmful insects if you are gardening.

Many people do, in fact, buy them to keep in their gardens... ;)

[Enmos]

For the same reason people the world over do.

But why is that? To have them rid insects from your garden or to boost their populations in the wild?

[Enmos]

Enmos, they eat many other harmful insects if you are gardening.

Many people do, in fact, buy them to keep in their gardens... ;)

Yea, I read that on the internet.
But.. I also read that most companies that sell praying mantis eggs, sell eggs of a Chinese species.
I think it's irresponsible to release a foreign species into the wild as they might end up competing with endemic species.

[Randwolf]

Yea, I read that on the internet.
But.. I also read that most companies that sell praying mantis eggs, sell eggs of a Chinese species.
I think it's irresponsible to release a foreign species into the wild as they might end up competing with endemic species.
I have never personally raised / released any, G*d knows there were always plenty around! :bugeye:

I have read that people do so, but I did not realize they were not native Mantises. I wonder what is wrong with regular American ones, assuming you are residing in the US?

[Enmos]

I have never personally raised / released any, G*d knows there were always plenty around! :bugeye:

I have read that people do so, but I did not realize they were not native Mantises. I wonder what is wrong with regular American ones, assuming you are residing in the US?

I assume they make better pets for some reason, but I really don't know.

[Randwolf]

I assume they make better pets for some reason, but I really don't know.
Pets? For real? I know kids catch and keep them in jars for a few days, but I don't recall anyone referring to them as "pets". :eek:

Whatever, but that definitely does not justify introduction of a non-native species...

Pets - good grief...

[Enmos]

Pets? For real? I know kids catch and keep them in jars for a few days, but I don't recall anyone referring to them as "pets". :eek:

Whatever, but that definitely does not justify introduction of a non-native species...

Pets - good grief...
About 20 species are native to the United States, including the common Carolina mantis, and only one in Canada. Two species (the Chinese mantis and the European Mantis) were deliberately introduced to serve as pest control for agriculture, and have spread widely in both countries. While it is legal to keep native mantises as pets or to sell egg cases for gardening, non-native species are illegal to possess and release in the United States, under the Non-Native Invasive Species Act of 1992. Despite this, there is a strong market in the exotic pet trade for mantis species from Asia and Africa, and many species are bred in captivity for this purpose.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis#Introduced_species

Google "Praying Mantis Pet" ;)

[ScaryMonster]

You "put one out"?
What do you mean by that? Did you 'end it' or did you release it? :p

No it was sitting on the wiper of my car so I put it outside in the garden.
Are they uncomon in NL?

[Enmos]

No it was sitting on the wiper of my car so I put it outside in the garden.
Are then uncomon in NL?
Ah ok.
Yea, we don't have them here at all :(

[ScaryMonster]

Wow.

You had trouble understanding my point? It was so simple and direct.

No I understand your point, I just don’t think that the speed of a Preying Mantis defies physic’s, yes its fast but relative to what?.
But then that’s only a figure of speech.
I was just being pedantic.

[Randwolf]

Ah ok.
Yea, we don't have them here at all :(

I feel bad for you Enmos, you don't seem to have any of the "cool" bugs... :(

[Enmos]

I feel bad for you Enmos, you don't seem to have any of the "cool" bugs... :(
I know.. :(
I'd love to shoot them. I think they look awesome.

[Enmos]

Here are some truly awesome captures of Praying Mantises (search for 'mantis'):

http://pixdaus.com/

Three images from that search (40 images in total):

http://enmos.eu/tempdir/PM1.jpg (http://pixdaus.com/single.php?id=24088)

http://enmos.eu/tempdir/PM2.jpg (http://pixdaus.com/single.php?id=34120)

http://enmos.eu/tempdir/PM3.jpg (http://pixdaus.com/single.php?id=118777)

Edit:
I had to download them and upload them to my personal webspace.
I put links on the images that will direct you to their original page.

[ScaryMonster]

Praying Mantis vs. Spider
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YImTed17ksY

Nature's Perfect Predators- Praying Mantis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hGuallLPcM

A Mantis strike is one 20th of a second. Twice as fast as the blink of an eye.

[francois]

http://qtan.homestead.com/files/hydralisk.jpg

[Repo Man]

Praying Mantis vs. Spider
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YImTed17ksY

Nature's Perfect Predators- Praying Mantis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hGuallLPcM

A Mantis strike is one 20th of a second. Twice as fast as the blink of an eye.

Last summer, I had to evict a Black Widow spider from my motorcycle's front wheel when getting ready for a trip. A direct hit of wasp spray fixed her wagon. Cleaning out the web, I spotted the remnants of a Praying Mantis, encased in silk, and dangling.

[Dr Mabuse]

No I understand your point, I just don’t think that the speed of a Preying Mantis defies physic’s, yes its fast but relative to what?.

Everything on earth.

I'm not sure how else to say that so you can understand it.

The flight speed of a falcon has nothing to do with it either, hence I knew you didn't understand a simple point.

The mantis moves faster than any living creature, of any type, on earth.

[Enmos]

Everything on earth.

I'm not sure how else to say that so you can understand it.

The flight speed of a falcon has nothing to do with it either, hence I knew you didn't understand a simple point.

The mantis moves faster than any living creature, of any type, on earth.
How fast?
The fastest muscle movement in the world:

Marc Seid and Jeremy Niven of the Smithsonian
Tropical Research Institute in Panama revealed that termites reach a speed of 70.4 m (220 ft) per second, even if over a distance of only 1.76 mm.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-Fastest-Muscle-Movement-in-the-World-62200.shtml

[Orleander]

Oh!! Their hats are so cute! I wonder whose birthday it is.

...
http://enmos.eu/tempdir/PM2.jpg (http://pixdaus.com/single.php?id=34120)

.

[ScaryMonster]

Everything on earth.

I'm not sure how else to say that so you can understand it.

The flight speed of a falcon has nothing to do with it either, hence I knew you didn't understand a simple point.

The mantis moves faster than any living creature, of any type, on earth.

Everything on Earth? That’s a very absolute statement to make, I think its been proved the a Mantis strikes at one twentieth of a second. Which without doubt is fast but not the fastest animal and not even the fastest insect. In movement, flight or striking speed.

The fastest striking insect is the Panamanian Termite, the soldier termite's jaws strike an invader at almost 70 meters per second as captured on a high speed video camera in the laboratory at 40,000 frames per second.
http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/termite-mandibles-388.jpg
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081124165259.htm

Is it as visually interesting as the Mantis 'No' but its faster!

The fastest animal on earth is the Peregrine Falcon. It can fly at speeds of 55 mph horizontally, but when flying downwards they reach speeds of over 270 mph. This speed can not be matched by any other animal in the world, be it on land, sea or sky.

But if your talking about the fastest land animal it would be the Cheetah which can run upwards of 70 M.P.H

Now everything I've written is a statement of fact, which is backed up by scientific measurement and documented.

What you've given is an opinion, one that I perfectly understand. The only problem with it is that it’s wrong.

[Dr Mabuse]

I see you read Enmos' thread above and are pretending you already knew that. :rolleyes:

There are also mentions of the Mantis Shrimp being the fastest strike, surprised no one mentioned it.

Your idea that Peregrine Falcons go over 270 may be based on an erroneous publication by National Geographic. It's of course very fast, I've seen one take a kill in the wild several times, once in my back yard. The claim of being 'clocked' at over 270mph has been met with considerable skepticism.

I saw a documentary on this stuff and they concluded, as I stated, the fastest strike in the animal kingdom is the Preying Mantis. I've yet to see anything that disproved that, supposed jaw speed of a termite or not.

Though the Mantis Shrimp does strike with the power of a .22 caliber rifle bullet leaving the barrel, so I can understand the claims that it's the fastest.

[Enmos]

There's also the click beetle.. I'll have to look that one up though.
Brb..

Edit: Hmm I can't seem to find it. I doubt it is faster then the Termite anyway.

[Orleander]

I read it was ants
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Trap-Jaw-Ants-Have-Fastest-Recorded-Strike-in-Animal-Kingdom-33512.shtml

[Enmos]

I read it was ants
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Trap-Jaw-Ants-Have-Fastest-Recorded-Strike-in-Animal-Kingdom-33512.shtml

Those are pretty fast:
Biologists clocked the speed at which the trap-jaw ant, Odontomachus bauri, closes its mandibles at 35 to 64 meters per second.

But the termites are faster though:
The fastest muscle movement in the world:

Marc Seid and Jeremy Niven of the Smithsonian
Tropical Research Institute in Panama revealed that termites reach a speed of 70.4 m (220 ft) per second, even if over a distance of only 1.76 mm.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-F...ld-62200.shtml


By the way, the Mantis Shrimp 'only' reaches 23m/s:
In smashers, these two weapons are employed with blinding quickness, with an acceleration of 10,400 g and speeds of 23 m/s from a standing start, about the acceleration of a .22 caliber bullet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp

[Grim_Reaper]

When I saw this title I thought of this

when you are doing a girl doggy style and put your fingers in her nose from over her forehead and pull her back. The resulting flailing of her arms makes her look like a praying mantis

[visceral_instinct]

I love love love love mantises. They're so beautiful. Something about the proportions of their bodies, they remind me a little of figures in computer games.

Never seen a live one, though.