I didn't know, either. I'm assuming that it's a mantis and not some "looks like one" bug, although the web says there are such things. I've seen a few green ones this year, both on the garage as this one was and on my car once in the Walmart parking lot. They're almost human-like with a head on a distinct neck, and human-like arms. The only bugs I like as much are dragonflies.
...just considerating here. I read once that there's no preference in name between 'preying' and 'praying' mantis. If the green or brown mantis is a ''praying' mantis, could the black one be a bad 'preying' mantis? Evil bugs? Good bugs? I prefer moderate bugs.
Interesting. I would never have thought of saying "preying mantis." But it certainly fits. Perhaps they are "It's all relative" bugs. Or maybe Situational bugs.
I wouldn't be so obvious as to say the topic is beginning to bug me. I have more self-respect than that. At least, I should have.
I forgot the part where the female mantis eats her own mate. Mantis Liberation taken to an extreme. Take note, human female-type women - things can go too far.
So daggone alien... But it heartens me to see that so many of us will stop to take a picture of a bug. Good for us for not losing sight of what really matters in this world.
@Hal Pollner, your wife and my daughter would get along really well! She is a creature magnet! Used to be a vet tech before marriage and kids intervened. She has numerous pets....the typical dogs and cats, but also snakes, a gecko and a bearded dragon. She has numerous bird houses and feeders in her yard and fiercely protects the various bird nests every year. She planted a butterfly garden a few years ago, and hovers over the caterpillars that munch on the milkweed so that the birds don't eat too many of them. She's even been known to bring the pupae inside and let them mature in "protective custody" till the butterflies emerge She is constantly rescuing all manner of creatures and teaching her kids all about them.
I once thought of raising praying mantes. Apparently the hatchlings are SUPER tiny, there are tons of them, and they'll be everywhere if you're not careful. I once rescued a mantis that was near frozen, sitting on a fence one chilly evening. I brought it inside, where it flew from one house plant to the other. I would go to the pet shop and purchase feeder crickets. One day it just disappeared, either from natural causes or Death by Snowy. I just spotted this well-camouflaged guy on my tomato plant:
My garden buddy 2021. An interesting fact is that the male has a 25% chance of being killed after mating.
I think she bites his head off during copulation in order to release his sperm. Or something. But what a way to go.
Theory 1: The female consumes the male because she is hungry and needs the nutrition to produce and lay a healthy clutch of eggs. This has been somewhat supported in the lab, where well-fed females do not engage in this behaviour. As a personal aside, this is why I always take dates to a nice restaurant, and try to make sure they order dessert Theory 2: If the female is preoccupied with eating the male's head, then he gets to mate with her longer, increasing the chances of fertilizing her eggs. In true-blue guy fashion, being decapitated does not affect the male mantis' ability (or desire) to copulate. I have no personal asides for this one. Seriously. None.