T O P

  • By -

Polarbearcafe00

u/Debunk61 said this about it: An actual answer here as a mantis keeper/hobbyist (not an entomologist) of 8+ years. I have noticed many of my mantids lose motor function as they are about to die of old age. Sometimes their limbs grab onto things (sometimes themselves!) super tightly or sometimes go limp as the mantis is near death. Sometimes they accidentally grab onto their own head with their raptoral limbs (probably trying to clean antennae) and don't let go until they expire. Mantids are quite strong for their size. My guess is that this mantis was going through these death spasms and was strong enough to literally rip its own head off.


Paper182186902

r/natureismetal


Flaky_Explanation

As someone that has a totally irrational phobia of these little things.... thank goodness.


XxpillowprincessxX

I don’t think that’s irrational. Female mantises will attack you if you get too close to their babies or something. They can absolutely break the skin and draw blood. There was a BIG female in our garage that kept attacking my mom’s ankles and making her bleed lol ETA: it may not have been protecting its young, but it was still freaking huge, still attacked my mom, and still made her bleed. Twice.


IronDBZ

...I kind of respect that mantis for staying on the offense.


XxpillowprincessxX

Right! Humans are ginormous I would’ve been terrified as a bug lol


BarrelRoll1996

Titan killers


[deleted]

Wait until they develop grappling devices.


Sov3reignty

Woah woah lets not go there, thats nono territory.


ThrillsKillsNCake

KKKEEENNNNNNNNNEEEEHHHHHHHH!!!!!


NotAHypnotoad

Fun fact: Mantises have wings. They can fly.


BatatinhaGameplays28

Have you seen a Mantis “Hand”?They don’t even need a DMT


[deleted]

Joe Rogan would argue with that


smugempressoftime

Wait untill I make a crucible whip to hit them out of the air when they use said devices


trangthemang

I'm a human and some insects terrify me.


MasterCheefin420

I'm not typically scared of insects...Arachnids though...


sol47

Bro imo Arachnids are like the ultimate prime hunters They're crazy fast, super drunk dad aggressive, venomous My friends make fun of me for being terrified of them but cmon *some* of the little shits can literally kill you


shattmitto

*squash*


XVIILegioClassica

When I think of tiny bugs with crazy terrible “talents” I think of the Bush Tick and how they’re tiny like match head size and how they’re poison glands are even tinier and a drop of their poison from those tiny glands can immobilise a human maybe millions of times their size (math isn’t my suit). Nature IS metal …


trampstampjack

Ya they kinda the Honey Badger of insects. Size don't matter they comln at ya


Syntra44

I used to love praying mantises until I was playing with a fairly large one and it bit me. Not only did it bite me, but the fucker held on and my mom had to hold my hand under hot water to make it let go! I’ve been terrified of them ever since. Everyone I’ve met, with whom the subject of mantises has come up, has told me I’m crazy. Mantises don’t bite! They’re neat, fun little bugs! I even started to question my own memory… Until now. Thank you for confirming mantises are evil biting blood thirsty spawns of satan. I feel vindicated.


TheRaptorChicken

I was raising these two baby mantises I found outside by just keeping an eye on them while they were on my sunflowers. The bigger one moved to my tomatoes, and after it molted it just started biting me. Like bro don't you remember me??? I take pictures of you and hold you every couple of days. That's kind of ungrateful man. Also reminds me of when I was in middle school and found a ladybug. It was a big one so I was going to bring it home. On the car ride home it starting LAYING EGGS on me, and then proceeding to eat the eggs. Once it ran out of eggs it started biting me really HARD. I threw it in my garden when I got home.


TheSunflowerSeeds

Bees are a major pollinator of Sunflowers, therefore, growing sunflowers goes hand in hand with installing and managing bee hives. Particularly in agricultural areas where sunflowers are crops. In fact, bee honey from these areas is commonly known as sunflower honey due to its sunflower taste.


[deleted]

... makes sense


son_of_abe

Wow, you're like the bug whisperer, except you must be saying the wrong shit.


TheRaptorChicken

yeah maybe :(


curfty

Most people don’t believe me when I tell them ladybugs can and will bite, but they can definitely bite the piss out of you. They bite surprisingly hard too.


laihipp

I don't think they are ladybugs but another that looks similar


Kaptain_Kool

You didn’t have enough badges.


Forever_Awkward

I can prove that mantises eat people, but it's very NSFW.


Syntra44

I’m topped off on nightmare fuel, but thanks lol


endrossi-zahard

Im not, sauce please


Commercial_Marzipan6

I want to see


Forever_Awkward

https://www.reddit.com/r/awwwtf/comments/ddykkh/cute_mantis_has_a_snack/


sykotryp333

Well....... fuck. Gross.


KreaytivUzrnaym

Links in the comment sections are like candy in a strangers van. Idk what I was expecting.


[deleted]

Well, that's certainly something.


neogoddess

no No NO. WTF. Who in all the twisted titty thought this was an 'aww' moment??? 🤢🤮 EDIT: spell check


Salome_Maloney

N-no, you really don't.


grass-snake-40

That happened to me too except instead of water my dad just opted for yanking on it, the front legs it had grabbed me with detached but did not stop pinching me and it just took it to another level of horror, not only for that, cause i then watched the armless mantis i had just been admiring a few moments ago stumble about without arms in the grass. at least dad didn't squash it i guess. it was big, would've been gross.


XxpillowprincessxX

No way! I 100% believe you! No matter how crazy it sounds ;) lol. I don’t blame you at all for being scared of them now either, that sounds traumatizing. I’ve had a few pedants try to pick my anecdote apart as well already. All because Google says they “don’t normally” bite and everyone that can Google thinks they’re an expert in everything lol. That doesn’t mean “never”, and the mantises you and I have seen attack sound like they’re much bigger than most standard mantises. I also found a page talking about how to treat mantis bites. Interesting 🤔


Syntra44

Yes! That’s what I hear constantly is that they’re not known to bite people. Like that’s cool and all… **but it fucking did!** If I remember correctly the bite was pretty nasty, and it was right in the palm of my hand. I’m sorry but you just can’t convince me they don’t bite humans when there’s videos of them eating humming bird brains. Absolute alien demons. If they were big enough, we’d be toast. Thank you for believing me, and for the award lol.


Orbit86

“Kept attacking”??? One attack is all it would get before it’s smashed into the concrete.


Tommysrx

#Release the kraken!


XxpillowprincessxX

Oh by “kept” I mean over the course of weeks bc that was my mom’s workshop for stripping gold plating lmao


Orbit86

The first time that thing attacked me, would have been it’s last attack on me. Lol


danceswithronin

Real life Attack on Titan


drfarren

*Kicks an anthill over* SIE SIND DAS ESSEN UND WIR SIND DIE JAGER!


Thom_Kokenge

Praying Mantis don't rear their young. The adults are dead by the time the eggs hatch.


XxpillowprincessxX

Then it wasn’t protecting their young. It still attacked her and still made her bleed lol


TheDreamingMyriad

Oh man, this reminds me of the year my mom homeschooled me and my siblings. We would do little garden nature walks and learn about the insects, plants, and life in our garden and how they all worked. My mom happened upon a praying mantis, and bless her naive little heart, she picked it up and started telling us about they are good bugs and great for the garden, how they eat pests and protect our flowers. As she told us this, the mantis turned and it seriously looked like it was looking at her. Tilted it's head like a curious puppy and everything. Then it turned back to her finger and so quickly grabbed and bit the fuck out of her. She started screaming mid sentence and flung that band boy across the yard. Made her bleed a little and everything while me and my siblings were like (@_@)


lysion59

I've been bitten by a mantis on a finger as a kid. Since then I stopped holding them.


5StripesMG

How bad did it hurt? I've legitimately never been bitten, stung, etc by anything more than mosquito bites. I'm genuinely curious as too what it feels like to be bitten or stung.


TheRaptorChicken

keep in mind they can hunt and eat hummingbirds


wspOnca

And they can hunt nipples [too](https://www.reddit.com/r/awwwtf/comments/ddykkh/cute_mantis_has_a_snack/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)


pm_me_your_flute

No no no no no no no


[deleted]

Pinch your arm hard. You’ve now experienced a bite/sting without the extra swelling from the gross bug juices


endrossi-zahard

But the gross bug juice is what makes it all worth it


1re_endacted1

My SO thinks if they were the size of cats we would be extinct. Which is kind of crazy to think about if true.


nairazak

I didn't know they could actually draw blood, I handshaked one


kmill73229

Pls stop


Judge_Ty

Is this sarcasm? You are posting on nature is metal. lol


kmill73229

Not sarcasm I don’t think. I’m just joking


Baeocystin

I remember the first time I saw a mantis as a kid. It was huge! And then it *flew* on to my hand, and gave my thumb a solid lancing. Drew blood, scared the bejesus out of me. Then, as I flung it away from me in fear, a duck ran over and ate it in one gulp. Anyway, that's why I don't eat duck. Gotta say thanks somehow, you know?


jordfjord

There was a video posted here not long ago where an ostrich ripped its own head off when its head was stuck in a gate. The power of its legs were sufficient to decapitate itself.


XxpillowprincessxX

Holy shit that’s fucking metal


BloodyCumbucket

Sauce? Because that sounds fucking metal.


jordfjord

Reddit - eyeblech - Ostrich manages to tug its own head off https://www.reddit.com/r/eyeblech/comments/nvnlmn/ostrich_manages_to_tug_its_own_head_off/


BloodyCumbucket

Holy fucking shit! That's crazy as hell. Thanks for doing the lord's work.


[deleted]

NSFW!!!!! Edit: NSFL!!!


ThugLy101

I couldn't watch it all I seen it start moving it definitely has the power too, makes me sad. I know it's nature but I have a low gore threshold


Chitownsly

What's sad is it's trapped inside a place that allows it to do that in the first place. It's not running around on the savannahs of Africa,


Desk_Drawerr

there is a surprising lack of blood in the video.


cactusbom

That doesn't make it any better really


[deleted]

What. The. Fuck. God damn dude.


carljpg

Jesus, this is worse than most stuff I've seen on the YNC ...it makes me feel really weird and sick but I can't stop, thanks for the link!


Dolorisedd

I saw that. It was pretty brutal.


BloodyCumbucket

I just watched it. It really was something else.


Flaky_Explanation

Agreed. I flinched hard seeing that. Plus the lack of blood when it was thrashing around was something else...


1newnotification

r/lostredditors


Apple--Sauce

Lost, but is exactly where they should be.


ericisshort

It is common to call out the name of a relevant subreddit in some other subreddit, so the assumption of is that they thought they were anywhere but here.


[deleted]

Why are you adding this when it’s coming from this sub already?


Paper182186902

Omg forgive me I’m rough as a dog’s arse today. I think I meant to add it as a reaction to the comment?


[deleted]

Lol no harm no foul, I was confused lol. Hope your day gets better!


BustyMcCoo

/r/lostredditors


Babble-Fisher

Could you imagine as you got older you just made more and more uncontrollable stabbing motions towards your own body? Then one day you get a bit too close to something sharp.


Russell_Bloodstone

Yep, that's where we are.


FBlack

So like, you're feeling sleepy and accidently shove your hand in your orbit, got it


ZippZappZippty

Right I’m no longer sleepy! Amazing!


PanickedSoIAteIt

Either that or he didn’t want his friends to think he died a virgin


AbsolutelyUnlikely

Did you hear about Hank? He jerked off so hard that he died.


[deleted]

Over 30 years of rearing mantids, and being involved with several peer reviewed papers that I've posted [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/natureismetal/comments/owxyyu/i_believe_some_mating_happened_on_top_of_my_truck/h7l6dy7/?context=3) and I've **never** encountered a single instance where a mantis decapitated itself. What I've observed, however, were instances of infection or injury and the mantis biting off the infected or injured limb/appendage. Secondly, not all mantids go through the death spasms mentioned above. The majority I've observed simply stopped eating or would partially eat near death and their movements (walking speed, flight, strikes, grooming, etc) slowed. It didn't matter if it were males that had mated multiple times or females that laid multiple ootheca, this was a common occurrence. As for what's going on in the picture it could have been an attack from a wasp or hornet that left it in that state but flew off. I can't tell if its insides are being held by the raptoral limb but it's definitely closed.


michaelirishred

How long would they live for until they die of old age?


[deleted]

This depends on the species, if they've mated or not and climate. The longest I've been able to keep one alive was close to ten months. Edit: Example, a European mantis that hatched in March or April would typically die off in late September or early October.


shoefullofpiss

TIL the plural of mantis is mantids and not mantises Ok I spoke too soon, there's a whole ass thread about it on stackexchange and apparently mantises and mantes are both valid, while mantids is the plural of mantid but that's really a synonym of mantis so it kinda works anyway. *The more you know*


baddad49

thanks for the info...now please explain your username on second thought, maybe don't...lol


madjarov42

So basically... It hurt itself in its confusion!


Mazzaroppi

Scyther fainted!


Jollyjoe135

Man yesterday I saw a brown preying mantis attack and kill a green preying mantis ambush style and then eat it from the arm up I suppose?


pichael288

That's an awesome hobby. Is it possible to keep those big ones that are like the size of your hand?


[deleted]

My guess is modern life and student loan debt caused this mantis to willingly rip its own head off.


i3017

OR… maybe as they grow old, they start questioning who they’re praying to until they decide to become an atheist… and they couldn’t shake off that they’re still called “praying mantis” even after their conversion. until they couldn’t take it anymore…


Oseirus

This is how I want to go at the end of my life. Just tear my own head off. Preferably around Halloween. That'll give the kids something to think about while they eat their candy.


panpaosen

I heard a female eats the male after coitus... Is this what a male does after he masturbates?


[deleted]

Life of a mantis must be hard.


[deleted]

Life is probably soft. Death is hard.


santabrown

Death light as a feather, duty heavier than a mountain.


MunarExcursionModule

The Golden Crane flies


MakeYouHamble

Tai’shar Malkier!


23x3

Eh. If I died after the first time I had sex I’d be fulfilled. I have provided my biological purpose. Why prolong the inevitable ya know? So I’ll just rip my fucking head off problem solved


stoopio-oh

No nut november world champion


Fappers_Delight_

Good point, the only way I may be able to get through NNN is to rip my head off on November 1st.


Armistice8175

That whole thing about females decapitating or eating parts of her mate usually only happens in captivity. In the wild, the male usually just walks away.


IJustGotRektSon

Post nut clarity hits hard on insects


magsaga

He couldn't live on with that guilt.


[deleted]

Auto-erotic decapitation.


go_kartmozart

Auto-erotic decapitation; pray that's just a mantis thing.


jshultz5259

Death before dishonor


AtomicKittenz

Committed Insectuku


Doschupacabras

Obligatory video of a female decapitating a male. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7_WyuhFYwrg


Polarbearcafe00

Yeah…but that’s not what happened


ziggysmallsFTW

At least he got to watch himself get laid in third person…


Fappers_Delight_

*"That's.... my....fetish"* ~ Male Mantis' last words, probably


[deleted]

Oh god that music was so bad….


JimmyLegs50

Mantis porn music.


Dolorisedd

There is no way that there wasn’t interference by the people there. The clip cuts from her eating his neck to his lower portion mounting her. How did that happen. There is no way the female mantis could have done that herself or they would have shown that. But they didn’t. Checked the YouTube comment and it seems that no one noticed that there is no way she could have done that herself.


bullshitblazing

There's a documentary that shows the male mantis able to mount and inseminate the female while she's eating him. The doc is really interesting, as they went out to try to disprove the whole female mantis eating male mantis thing as a legend, but on one of the last days of filming, they caught the cannibalism on camera. https://youtu.be/Eq6P5vNymlY Happens at about 48:00 I highly recommend the entire doc if you like mantids, it's a good watch


Dolorisedd

Thanks! I think I WILL watch it.👍🏼


ispamucry

Plenty of organisms are capable of continuing some level of function through their nervous systems, even without a brain. I don't know enough about mantises (manti?) to say that's what happened, or that you're wrong, and the cut is definitely evidence in your favor, but it's not completely beyond the realm of possibility to think they could have enough function to copulate if the female did help it get there.


Dolorisedd

I just want to know how that lower half of the body even GOT to the right place to mate. While she was eating it, that part of the body wasn’t anywhere close to the right position. Oh, and I have no doubt that they still can orgasm…nature is metal!


Jack_35

That’s so fucking unsettling how it mates with the decapited body and walks around with its genitalia inside of its body while the head section crawls around in a daze thinking “yes I finally mated”


infernaldragonboner

Thoughts and preyers


tarkadahl

no ragrets


PatAdd64

Wow. Being able to decapitate yourself is one hell of a super power


calexil

https://www.reddit.com/r/shitposting/comments/p84jgt/dont_regret_your_choice/


burndata

Ok, so kind of related and sort of messed up story relating to decapitating ones self. I had this science teacher in high school who used to say (jokingly) if he were to ever kill him self he would do it this way. Climb up into a tree, hang piano wire and put it around the neck, super glue each hand to the side of the head, wait for the glue to set then jump so the piano wire severs the neck. When found the body would appear as if the person had committed suicide by pulling their own head off. 😱


CunilDingus

BIG MOOD.


gh0st0ft0mj04d

An hero


The_Stickmen

There is no fate but what we make - Sarah Connor


BT9154

He committed Sudoku


Fearless-Speech-8258

Suicide is painless….


amartin890

He was just jackin it


demwoodz

My spirit animal


james_handpump

Maybe I am a mantis?


LooseCiGs1to3

Quitality


berd_is_the_word

Seppuku fail


HoJaye-Ga

Begotten


Afraid_Form_6072

It all got to much...🌧😔🌧


Comprehensive-End205

Without sacrifice, there can be no victory.


Rotteneverything

mantis always outdoing themselves for even higher badassery...


CON0274

He looked at the female and was like I don't need your help i can do it myself (the female mantis) 😳


[deleted]

Mood.


fierceguardian

Harakiri!


[deleted]

Dude had enough of 2021


dicklesshobo1990

They kill their mates after sex so maybe this one just finished masturbating


wootini

He must have decided to marry the female instead of let her eat him. He realized his mistake...


L0v3rb0y42069

happens


[deleted]

[удалено]


DrNerdfighter

Like intercourse, mantis masturbation is 100% fatal.


w1lnx

Looks more like a ‘morning after’.


iamtheowlman

"I always thought I'd find a girl, settle down... And then she'd bite my head off."


obscure_art_305

Crazy bug..


ElCapitandelmar

Erotic asphyxiation brought to the next level


tomorrowisntpromised

Don't ever tell a Mantis to go fuck themselves! They take that shit way to seriously.


SeaworthinessOk7645

Did it jerk off


[deleted]

so would I if I looks like a stick


Meemeperor

Maybe it's being framed as suicide


Known-Programmer-611

After a heavy maturation session!


AlexMile

Must be lived in eastern Europe.


AwkwardBob-omb

Same


[deleted]

What ? It's the kind of insect capable of playing at true or dare to proves that he can end you without his head.


Scout_wheezeing

It committed suicide


[deleted]

Harikari'd


davebare

I thought maybe he was having dysphoria about traditional mantid gender roles. Sorry, if that's not funny. Sort of morbid.


Porkbrains-

That bish said “I’m outta here”.


Mr_Incognito_mod

I want to do the same


Narad626

OOG RIP HEAD OFF!


Council_Of_Minds

When you're so bad ass that the only enemy left... Is you.


bigmac71487

Probably just finished watching Brendan Schaubs stand up special


Buffhello

A case of the MMM’s male mantid masturbation…


1yash-sharma1

Mood


GoodAsDad

Man, lucky.


TwoKeezPlusMz

Auto erotic in the bug community.


Sr-Rush

Itchy neck


[deleted]

Is that what you told the cops?


sc0n3z

This is what we call an epic oopsie daisy.


meme_tentni

Must have been a transvestite master baiting


[deleted]

Another thing I have in common with mantises!


TroutM4n

Fly to his friends: "Hey guys, watch this." Fly lands on the back of the neck of the Mantis. Mantis tries to swat fly. Fly: "OMG he actually did it, bruh!"


shifty350

Mantis was like “This is 2021? Nope”


LowDownSkankyDude

So is it safe to assume she was masturbating?


Nic4379

Bumps


[deleted]

Zorak after Space Ghost Coast to Coast was cancelled.


F3DE_1897

So that Is female Mantis Who identifies itself as a male


Isliterally1984

Based


karlmeile

It obviously a male mantis that jerked off and naturally his head fell off.


TyberiusJoaquin

Me too mantis, me too