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Praying Mantis Love Is Waaay Weirder Than You Think | Deep Look

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5.6M views 7 years ago #prayingmantis #deeplook #mantises
Support Deep Look on Patreon!!   / deeplook   These pocket-sized predators are formidable hunters. But when it comes to hooking up, male mantises have good reason to fear commitment. SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.  …...more
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Praying Mantis Love Is Waaay Weirder Than You Think | Deep Look
67KLikes
5,636,167Views
2017Nov 14
Support Deep Look on Patreon!!   / deeplook   These pocket-sized predators are formidable hunters. But when it comes to hooking up, male mantises have good reason to fear commitment. SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.
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Mike Maxwell recently finished a ninth season studying the love life of the praying mantises that live around Bishop, a town in California’s Eastern Sierra. Over that time, he’s seen some unsettlingly strange behaviors. It’s pretty common knowledge that female mantises sometimes eat males during or after mating — a habit that biologists call “sexual cannibalism.” But among the bordered mantises that Maxwell researches, it gets weirder than that. As it turns out, when a male mantis loses his head, it doesn’t mean he loses the urge to procreate. You read that right. Not only can some male bordered mantises continue mating even while being attacked by their female counterparts, some males are able to mount a female and initiate mating even after getting their heads completely bitten off. “It’s a really weird, strange behavior,” said Maxwell, “So what’s going on? Why do they do it?” -- What do praying mantises eat? Praying mantises are mostly ambush predators that typically eat small animals like grasshoppers, crickets, bees, crickets and butterflies . They use camouflage to hide themselves and wait for their prey to come within striking distance. Then they use their raptorial forelimbs to grab their prey. Spikes on their forelimbs help them hold their prey while they eat. -- Why do praying mantises eat each other? Female praying mantises sometimes eat males that approach them to mate. They are only able to do this because mantises are predators and the female mantises are bigger and stronger than the males. -- Do praying mantises bite? Most mantises will not bite people but they will pinch people with their forelimbs to defend themselves. It feels a lot like getting bit, trust me. ---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science: https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2017/11/... ---+ For more information: Dr. Michael Maxwell, National University https://www.nu.edu/OurPrograms/Colleg... ---+ More Great Deep Look episodes: It’s a Goopy Mess When Pines and Beetles Duke it Out | Deep Look    • It’s a Goopy Mess When Pines and Beet...   These Whispering, Walking Bats Are Onto Something | Deep Look    • These Whispering, Walking Bats Are On...   There's Something Very Fishy About These Trees ... | Deep Look    • There's Something Very Fishy About Th...   ---+ See some great videos and documentaries from PBS Digital Studios! How Your Rubber Ducky Explains Colonialism | Origin of Everything    • How Your Rubber Ducky Explains Coloni...   When Whales Walked | PBS Eons    • When Whales Walked   The Cheerios Effect | It’s OK To Be Smart    • The Cheerios Effect   ---+ Follow KQED Science KQED Science: http://www.kqed.org/science Tumblr:   / kqedscience   Twitter:   / kqedscience   ---+ About KQED KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, Radio and web media. Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is also supported by HopeLab, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED. #deeplook #prayingmantis #mantises

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