9 ms·
https://youtu.be/ooZtzyHTX7g https://youtu.be/ooZtzyHTX7g Maybe first time in the wild, bit we've known they eat fish for a long time. The above is a video of
by tfha 8y ago
https://youtu.be/ooZtzyHTX7g https://youtu.be/ooZtzyHTX7g
Maybe first time in the wild, bit we've known they eat fish for a long time. The above is a video of one catching and eating a fish, posted to YouTube 10 years ago.
- charmides 8y agoDisturbing that it does not kill its prey first.
- codetrotter 8y agoInsects tend to be like that; they just start eating.
- brahmwg 8y agoOften though they tend to target the head or neck for their first bites, I think with the intent that biting there will make the meal stop struggling[1]. Not all the time though, sometimes they grab the prey and just start chowing down, butt first :P [1] I had an African flower mantis as a pet ;)
- ryanianian 8y agoHow'd your mantis do with human interaction? I've been fascinated with them since I met one outside a couple weeks ago. They seem like they could do some real damage if they wanted to but all the reading I've done it seems like they're pretty tolerant of being handled and rarely/never bite.
- chrisseaton 8y ago> They seem like they could do some real damage if they wanted to A mantis could do real damage to a human?
- fanpuns 8y agoI have had this memory from some time ago about a scene from a podcast. Scientists in a lab are trying to wrangle an insect (which I remember to be a mantis of some kind) with a glass rod. The insect bites the rod with such force that it snaps and the arc of the motion lacerates the bugs middle (thorax?). From the cut fat begins to come out. Instictually the bug begins to eat it's own fat while dying. I wish I could remember or find the podcast. I feel like it was radio lab, but can't find it.
- pxq 8y agohttps://www.wnycstudios.org/story/185551-killer-empathy/ https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/185551-killer-empathy/
- albedoa 8y agoThe largest species can draw blood and might if they thought your wiggling finger were a flying insect. I don't know of any cases where a mantis did "real damage" to a human.
- BenjiWiebe 8y agoSome can be quite shy, but generally they are content to be handled and carried. They are a lot of fun as a pet.
- brahmwg 8y agoMine was in captivity since a child, so I don't think it ever developed the skills to fly. But sometimes when I would handle it, it would open and reveal it's eye-spotted wings; maybe because it thought I was a threat, or maybe just to impress me :P. When it was close to dying, it's behavior became erratic and it would fall over and not really be in control of itself. It did clamp onto my finger and take some nibbles in its near death state of confusion, but the spines nor bites could Pierce the skin. I barely felt it. TL;DR = mine handled fine and possibly enjoyed the excitement of adventuring up my arm. Never any naughty behavior until senility set in.
- albedoa 8y agoThey don't learn to fly, they just have that ability after their wings are developed. It's just that they don't fly often (in captivity or the wild). Also, my experience with the order in which they eat their prey is different from yours. Mine would eat fruit flies ass-first and would tear the wings off moths, both while the prey were alive.
- DanielleMolloy 8y ago> [1] I had an African flower mantis as a pet ;) types—this—into—google—images What the..! This kind (flower mantices) really looks incredible!
- gus_massa 8y agoClicky: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=African+flower+mantis https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=African+flower+mant...
- tomcooks 8y agoIt's not like it had sex with it before or anything /s
- qubax 8y agoIt's a lot more common in the wild than one thinks. Lions, tigers, wild dogs, alligators, fish, sharks, baboons, birds, hyenas, worms, bears, etc all eat animals that are still alive from time to time. Animals want to conserve as much enery as they can. As long as the prey is debilitated or not attracting other bigger predators, they'll eat it even if it is alive. Nature is really brutal when you get down to it.
- yesenadam 8y agoSo do humans. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_live_animals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_live_animals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_live_seafood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_live_seafood
- random42_ 8y agoYes, and it is noted in the article: Praying mantises have occasionally been observed to feed on vertebrates, including small birds, lizards, frogs, newts, mice, snakes and turtles. But many of these cases have either not been scientifically validated or have occurred under human-manipulated circumstances. And there is no previous scientific data of mantises preying on fish.
- DoofusOfDeath 8y agoI don't understand what they mean for it to be "scientifically observed".
- lostlogin 8y agoI wonder what reaction the authors would get if the paper they submitted was entirely based on watching Youtube?
- comesee 8y agoI think the "preying on fish" part is key here not "scientifically observed." A captive mantis eating a fish placed in front of it is different from a wild mantis specifically hunting fish.
- drb91 8y agoPerhaps merely “in a reproducable fashion”.
- gweinberg 8y agoWell, the youtube video clearly"occurred under human-manipulated circumstances".
- daveFNbuck 8y agoThat probably just means observed by a scientist. If I report seeing a praying mantis eat a fish, that's not as reliable as if I have a video or if a trained scientist makes the same report.
- another-cuppa 8y agoWhy doesn't the fish wriggle? The fish looks much stronger than the insect.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- crtasm 8y agoWhat's the idiom... Like being nudged towards eating fish in a barrel. I'm fascinated by the choice of soundtrack on this video.