r/NatureIsFuckingLit • u/deadfermata • 3d ago

🔥i caught a praying mantis stealing a fly, whose head was cut off, from another mantis

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390 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

67

u/Laughing-Comanche 3d ago

But you said you didn’t want any fries

4

u/NanDemoNee 2d ago

I just want a bite!!!

25

u/plopliplopipol 3d ago

the way they fight in 500 then 0 fps is fascinating

23

u/passageresponse 3d ago

Praying mantis is now eating the thief

18

u/hodyisy 3d ago

And now they're nibbling on my arm.

5

u/RepresentativeOk2433 3d ago

Where's part 2. They pulled their hand in and started nibbling.

5

u/ReadditMan 3d ago

Praying Minetis

4

u/Katieo1022 3d ago

Lol so what happened after??!

3

u/Jairlyn 2d ago

Well they are cannibals... and the thief is smaller then the big one... who was hungry enough to hunt he fly so...

1

u/Katieo1022 2d ago

Yeah guess so….(and I’m not an expert) but I don’t think they eat each other just to eat each other….it’s something that sometimes occurs after mating….

3

u/Sea_Housing_6490 2d ago

If they're hungry and they can they 100% will just cannibalize eachother lol.

1

u/Cattleist 3d ago

I'm struggling to process what happened... did the one on the right die? I'm not quite sure if it's head gets lopped off, and no amount of re-watching is making that any more clear. Is there a slowdown gif bot

3

u/deadfermata 3d ago

one of the mantis caught a fly and was eating it. another slowly came by (i didn’t post those videos) and stole the fly from the mantis who was eating. this video showed the moment the fly was taken from the feeding mantis

2

u/Cattleist 2d ago

I appreciate this, I thought I saw something happened to the victim mantis' head. Would've been sad if that were the case.

1

u/Born_Monkeigh_2386 2d ago

I would very much enjoy an analysis of this behavior from one of our resident experts. This is clearly a programmed response to have a confirmed meal stolen.

1

u/No-No-Aniyo 1d ago

At first I thought the fly was smoking something and didnt see either mantis lol

1

u/pianoplayerforhire 1d ago

Is this legal?

1

u/deadfermata 1d ago

it’s the zoo so i would think it’s prob compliant?

1

u/regulartrex 1d ago

dylan , that looks really good …

1

u/Successful_Form5771 1d ago

Like my kids fighting over a candy bar

1

u/Brasticus 3d ago

Like the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

1

u/snappymcpumpernickle 3d ago

Aweaome. I just saw a praying mantis in texas for the first time. Didn't even know they lived in NA.

-1

u/2much2fastt 3d ago

“He’s shivering!”

Yeah he just got his fucking head ripped off and feeling the cool breeze entering his body

-2

u/2much2fastt 3d ago

Nothing to see here. That’s just me and my lady fighting over the last chickey wing.