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Post by librarylady on Sept 25, 2018 1:18:24 GMT
I always thought they just ate insects etc. However we had one that kept hanging out on our hummingbird feeder yesterday and today. I was horrified to read that they will eat a hummingbird! ...and the Chinese one will eat monarch caterpillars.... animalstime.com/what-praying-mantis-eat/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MantisWe watched one fight a spider years ago on our back porch..
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MDscrapaholic
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,372
Location: Down by the bay....
Jun 25, 2014 20:49:07 GMT
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Post by MDscrapaholic on Sept 25, 2018 1:39:04 GMT
That's terrible! Can you move him from the feeder?
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peasquared
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,456
Jul 6, 2014 23:59:59 GMT
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Post by peasquared on Sept 25, 2018 1:42:21 GMT
La la la (eyes covered). I didn’t read that! La la la la😢
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Post by Zee on Sept 25, 2018 1:43:06 GMT
They're pretty badass. I love them. I'd gladly set up a hummingbird feeder to see a mantis go hunting.
I'm terrible, I know, but I love mantids.
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Post by papersilly on Sept 25, 2018 1:56:30 GMT
"Female mantis eats the male after mating..."
But the hummingbird.... How? Those birds are so quick. That was a surprising thing to learn today.
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hutchfan
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,134
Jul 6, 2016 16:42:12 GMT
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Post by hutchfan on Sept 25, 2018 2:14:17 GMT
Watched a program that talked about them eating snakes and I was shocked.
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Post by Zee on Sept 25, 2018 2:29:18 GMT
I also noticed a praying mantis hanging on the bottom of hummingbird bird feeder. I decided to google and immediately ran outside to flick it off. The next day it was back. So I had to kill it. 🤬🤬🤬
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Sept 25, 2018 2:42:06 GMT
I also noticed a praying mantis hanging on the bottom of hummingbird bird feeder. I decided to google and immediately ran outside to flick it off. The next day it was back. So I had to kill it. no... no, you didn't HAVE to kill it. you chose to kill it. circle of life, and all that. Nature isn't always pretty- it's pretty impressive, but it isn't always pretty.
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MerryMom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,539
Jul 24, 2014 19:51:57 GMT
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Post by MerryMom on Sept 25, 2018 2:45:00 GMT
Once a praying mantis went “nose to nose” with our darling Lab-Boxer mix, Emma. They were both giving each other the stink eye, leaning in, the mantis was in that boxer stance, our dog is growling. First time I heard our sweet Emma growl at anything.
Funniest thing I ever saw.
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Post by librarylady on Sept 25, 2018 2:52:38 GMT
That's terrible! Can you move him from the feeder? Yes, we moved the mantis to another shrub, and will check tomorrow and see if it found its way back.
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Post by hop2 on Sept 25, 2018 2:54:40 GMT
"Female mantis eats the male after mating..." Maybe they have a point
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Post by elaine on Sept 25, 2018 2:55:48 GMT
There is a reason that the praying mantis is an animal figure connected to martial arts; and not because they are peaceful insect-eaters.
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Post by papersilly on Sept 25, 2018 5:10:52 GMT
"Female mantis eats the male after mating..." Maybe they have a point yup. While I don't condone it, I certainly understand it. Lol
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Kerri W
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,770
Location: Kentucky
Jun 25, 2014 20:31:44 GMT
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Post by Kerri W on Sept 25, 2018 10:48:21 GMT
Dd bought a mantis pod at the garden shop 5-6 years ago. We followed directions and hung it in a bush near our front porch but never saw babies that year. The second year we were surprised to see oodles of babies! They are so stinking cute! That year we had 3-4 adults stick around. Each year since we’ve seen 2-3 babies in the early spring. We have fun hunting for them and watching them. We’ve never seen a hummingbird by our front porch...hmmm....
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 18, 2024 15:56:05 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2018 11:32:10 GMT
Dd bought a mantis pod at the garden shop 5-6 years ago. We followed directions and hung it in a bush near our front porch but never saw babies that year. The second year we were surprised to see oodles of babies! They are so stinking cute! That year we had 3-4 adults stick around. Each year since we’ve seen 2-3 babies in the early spring. We have fun hunting for them and watching them. We’ve never seen a hummingbird by our front porch...hmmm.... I only have two strong memories of second grade. One- I almost got paddled for fighting with another girl and two- praying mantis!! Some students found a pod and brought it in to ask the teacher what it was. He did not know but left it in the classroom. One day we came in to a TON!!! of tiny babies!! All these years later I still think about that happening in the class room... girls squealing and running. It was hilarious! I have them at my house and I always think they are cool, but at the same time they skeeve me out. Recently, one made it inside the house (I had brought in a fern to see if it fit on my new plant stand the day before) and I was able to guide it back out the front door. Every year they also hang out on my back deck.
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hippypea
Full Member
Just here for the FLUFF!!
Posts: 153
Jun 25, 2014 23:12:52 GMT
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Post by hippypea on Sept 25, 2018 12:58:39 GMT
Dd bought a mantis pod at the garden shop 5-6 years ago. We followed directions and hung it in a bush near our front porch but never saw babies that year. The second year we were surprised to see oodles of babies! They are so stinking cute! That year we had 3-4 adults stick around. Each year since we’ve seen 2-3 babies in the early spring. We have fun hunting for them and watching them. We’ve never seen a hummingbird by our front porch...hmmm.... I only have two strong memories of second grade. One- I almost got paddled for fighting with another girl and two- praying mantis!! Some students found a pod and brought it in to ask the teacher what it was. He did not know but left it in the classroom. One day we came in to a TON!!! of tiny babies!! All these years later I still think about that happening in the class room... girls squealing and running. It was hilarious! I have them at my house and I always think they are cool, but at the same time they skeeve me out. Recently, one made it inside the house (I had brought in a fern to see if it fit on my new plant stand the day before) and I was able to guide it back out the front door. Every year they also hang out on my back deck. Now see, I have an indoor plant that had summered out on my back deck and now I am settled on leaving it outside Nope Nope NOPE not bringing anything inside now. lol My favorite memory of a mantis was jumping into my convertible one day and not noticing one on my windshield. Luckily it was on the OUTSIDE but it still had to GO if i was going to drive down the road with the top down. I tried to "shoo" it off from the inside of the car with like a sweeping motion of my hands and it reared up and acted like it wanted to box! It put up it's dukes!! We played that game for a minute, I thought that was the wildest thing ever. I eventually had to get back out of the car and find a stick and convince it to be transplanted elsewhere. I don't think that I knew at the time that it could fly, otherwise I probably would have been asking someone else to move it. But I did know that it was a beneficial bug so it never occurred to me to kill it. Not to mention that would have been messy, it was huge.
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johnnysmom
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,682
Jun 25, 2014 21:16:33 GMT
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Post by johnnysmom on Sept 25, 2018 13:08:51 GMT
Huh, never knew that. You wanna see a bunch of kids lose their sh!t though: put a praying mantis on a playground the girls were scared it was gonna eat them (perhaps they were right, hmmm) and the boys wanted to carry it around (yes, there were some girls who wanted to carry it and some boys who were terrified but in general the reaction was gender split).
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Post by birdy on Sept 25, 2018 15:11:47 GMT
That's terrible! Can you move him from the feeder? Yes, we moved the mantis to another shrub, and will check tomorrow and see if it found its way back.If it does, think about catching it in a box and relocating it far away. I have a hummingbird feeder on our porch and a mantis that would hang out by the doorbell. We relocated him about a mile away.
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Post by birdy on Sept 25, 2018 15:13:16 GMT
I only have two strong memories of second grade. One- I almost got paddled for fighting with another girl and two- praying mantis!! Some students found a pod and brought it in to ask the teacher what it was. He did not know but left it in the classroom. One day we came in to a TON!!! of tiny babies!! All these years later I still think about that happening in the class room... girls squealing and running. It was hilarious! I have them at my house and I always think they are cool, but at the same time they skeeve me out. Recently, one made it inside the house (I had brought in a fern to see if it fit on my new plant stand the day before) and I was able to guide it back out the front door. Every year they also hang out on my back deck. Now see, I have an indoor plant that had summered out on my back deck and now I am settled on leaving it outside Nope Nope NOPE not bringing anything inside now. lolMy favorite memory of a mantis was jumping into my convertible one day and not noticing one on my windshield. Luckily it was on the OUTSIDE but it still had to GO if i was going to drive down the road with the top down. I tried to "shoo" it off from the inside of the car with like a sweeping motion of my hands and it reared up and acted like it wanted to box! It put up it's dukes!! We played that game for a minute, I thought that was the wildest thing ever. I eventually had to get back out of the car and find a stick and convince it to be transplanted elsewhere. I don't think that I knew at the time that it could fly, otherwise I probably would have been asking someone else to move it. But I did know that it was a beneficial bug so it never occurred to me to kill it. Not to mention that would have been messy, it was huge. They make bug spray for plants that you can use before bringing them indoors. Or you can mix up a dishsoap/water mixture, put in a spray bottle and spray the plant. That's what I do. I do it, leave the plant outside and do it again the next day then bring it in once it's driedl.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Sept 25, 2018 16:05:37 GMT
we see them every once in a while on our lantanas... They are SO CUTE when they're tiny!! I have some pictures I took with my macro lens, and it's so tiny that it's sitting on my thumbnail. We have plenty of hummingbirds, though, so I think they're safe at least around here.
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hippypea
Full Member
Just here for the FLUFF!!
Posts: 153
Jun 25, 2014 23:12:52 GMT
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Post by hippypea on Sept 25, 2018 16:37:25 GMT
They make bug spray for plants that you can use before bringing them indoors. Or you can mix up a dishsoap/water mixture, put in a spray bottle and spray the plant. That's what I do. I do it, leave the plant outside and do it again the next day then bring it in once it's driedl. Oh! I will give that a try. Thank you!! Hijack ... I was starting to feel bad about the plant's future because I don't think it would have made it through the winter out there! I took it outside because it didn't look like it was thriving indoors. It's pretty dark in my house and I specifically bought pothos (sp?) because they are low-light and low maintenance and it took off like a jungle plant outside. I left it's twin inside and it's definitely surpassed it in growth. I would like to bring the one that's been outdoors inside to my office. I will have to give it a spray!
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Post by hop2 on Sept 25, 2018 19:38:56 GMT
Dd bought a mantis pod at the garden shop 5-6 years ago. We followed directions and hung it in a bush near our front porch but never saw babies that year. The second year we were surprised to see oodles of babies! They are so stinking cute! That year we had 3-4 adults stick around. Each year since we’ve seen 2-3 babies in the early spring. We have fun hunting for them and watching them. We’ve never seen a hummingbird by our front porch...hmmm.... I only have two strong memories of second grade. One- I almost got paddled for fighting with another girl and two- praying mantis!! Some students found a pod and brought it in to ask the teacher what it was. He did not know but left it in the classroom. One day we came in to a TON!!! of tiny babies!! All these years later I still think about that happening in the class room... girls squealing and running. It was hilarious! I have them at my house and I always think they are cool, but at the same time they skeeve me out. Recently, one made it inside the house (I had brought in a fern to see if it fit on my new plant stand the day before) and I was able to guide it back out the front door. Every year they also hang out on my back deck. Were you in my class? This happened in my 3rd grade class they hatched all over the teachers desk she started smashing them with her class planner book the janitor came in an told her that she can’t kill them they are a protected species We spent the rest of the day in the cafeteria and next day the room was fine. I never found out what the janitor did with them all. Hundreds or thousands of them all at once. To this day I remember that episode.
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Post by buddysmom on Sept 25, 2018 19:47:44 GMT
When I was a kid, my parents would tell me it was illegal to kill a praying mantis and that there was a $50 fine.
I haven't seen one in decades so off to Snopes I went.
False. Snopes actually mentioned the $50 fine and said if it was illegal, it would be far more than $50 which makes sense.
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Post by Zee on Sept 25, 2018 20:13:40 GMT
I only have two strong memories of second grade. One- I almost got paddled for fighting with another girl and two- praying mantis!! Some students found a pod and brought it in to ask the teacher what it was. He did not know but left it in the classroom. One day we came in to a TON!!! of tiny babies!! All these years later I still think about that happening in the class room... girls squealing and running. It was hilarious! I have them at my house and I always think they are cool, but at the same time they skeeve me out. Recently, one made it inside the house (I had brought in a fern to see if it fit on my new plant stand the day before) and I was able to guide it back out the front door. Every year they also hang out on my back deck. Now see, I have an indoor plant that had summered out on my back deck and now I am settled on leaving it outside Nope Nope NOPE not bringing anything inside now. lol My favorite memory of a mantis was jumping into my convertible one day and not noticing one on my windshield. Luckily it was on the OUTSIDE but it still had to GO if i was going to drive down the road with the top down. I tried to "shoo" it off from the inside of the car with like a sweeping motion of my hands and it reared up and acted like it wanted to box! It put up it's dukes!! We played that game for a minute, I thought that was the wildest thing ever. I eventually had to get back out of the car and find a stick and convince it to be transplanted elsewhere. I don't think that I knew at the time that it could fly, otherwise I probably would have been asking someone else to move it. But I did know that it was a beneficial bug so it never occurred to me to kill it. Not to mention that would have been messy, it was huge. That's why they're so badass! My dad caught one for me when I was a kid and it lived in our terrarium. Its name was Mickey Mantis. My job was to catch bugs for it to eat. I loathe and detest spiders but when I was a kid they didn't bother me. I'd catch the largest ones I could find and put them in with Mickey and watch him go to town. That's actually not very cool, but it was a different time in the 70s. We had Mickey I, II, and III. My mom was not a huge fan because they would target her and jump in her hair. They are really scary when they stare you down like that and suddenly pounce. So cool. Very creepy. I give them plenty of room when they start swaying because they WILL jump in your hair.
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Post by librarylady on Sept 25, 2018 21:39:46 GMT
We have not see the mantis today. I think it is hiding in the shrubs--perhaps stalking an anole, IDK.
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Post by librarylady on Sept 27, 2018 2:33:00 GMT
I found some videos of the mantis catching a hummingbird.
I'll start with the video I liked best.
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Post by **Angie** on Sept 27, 2018 4:27:00 GMT
I also noticed a praying mantis hanging on the bottom of hummingbird bird feeder. I decided to google and immediately ran outside to flick it off. The next day it was back. So I had to kill it.
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Post by **Angie** on Sept 27, 2018 4:33:26 GMT
We have a mantis colony. About 3 years ago, I released about 40 newborns in our garden. Since then, we rarely have problems with bugs. Except ants. Those goddamn things can overwhelm even the hungriest of mantii.
Every once in a while, a mantis will show up on our screen door and eat whatever bugs are attracted to the porch light. We even had one that ran free in the house for a month.
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Post by librarylady on Sept 30, 2018 20:13:29 GMT
Friday night we caught a praying mantis on the back door and moved it about a mile away.
Saturday night ANOTHER mantis on the back door. Caught that one and took it about 1/2 mile further than the one we moved on Friday night.
If one shows up tonight-------I can only guess a science class has released some praying mantis in the neighborhood!
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Post by Dixie Lou on Sept 30, 2018 21:14:02 GMT
Before I discovered tarantulas, preying mantis were my phobia as a child. I still find them very creepy and will avoid them at all costs.
When I was in college there was a HUGE one that followed me with its eyes as i walked up the stairs to campus. I swear that thing was three feet tall (not really!)
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