Praying Mantis 1, Hummingbird 0

Oni Koneko Damien · Post by **Oni Koneko Damien** » 2005-08-18 01:45am

I love predators that can take on things no one expected them to. Among my favourites are...

1) Praying mantis taking down a hummingbird.
2) Wolf spiders catching minnows.
3) Swarms of ants completely owning hornet nests.
4) Dragonflies picking spiders right off the center of their webs.
6) Crab spiders catching and killing bees several times larger than them, and holding them down with their jaws alone.

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2005-08-18 02:13am

Frank Hipper wrote:To me, the only insect more worthy than the praying mantis is the dragonfly, but I wouldn't bet on the dragonfly in a fight between the two... mantids come in a huge variety of sizes, so of course victory isn't assured, either.

And dragonflies are bloody fast too, eh? How fast can some species go? Faster than some species of birds?

Erik von Nein · Post by **Erik von Nein** » 2005-08-18 02:24am

Ford Prefect wrote:
Frank Hipper wrote:To me, the only insect more worthy than the praying mantis is the dragonfly, but I wouldn't bet on the dragonfly in a fight between the two... mantids come in a huge variety of sizes, so of course victory isn't assured, either.
And dragonflies are bloody fast too, eh? How fast can some species go? Faster than some species of birds?

According to this site some can go as fast as 35 miles per hour.

General Trelane (Retired) · Post by **General Trelane (Retired)** » 2005-08-19 10:35am

Would that be an African or a European dragonfly?

Getting back to preying mantes, one has to admire the sacrificial dedication of the males in their pursuit of a one-night stand. . .

Magnetic · Post by **Magnetic** » 2005-08-19 11:44am

I've seen this before (Mantis catching Hummer). I have it on one of my nature video tapes. On the show, they said that the hummingbird actually dies of fright more than the grasping ability of the mantis.

The Mantis is my all time favorite incect. The way the head will turn and (seemingly) look right at you.

The other creature that I admire is the wolf spider because it does the same thing, turns and looks at you. Of course, it moves its whole body, but it still turns to face you down.

Incects and arachnids, to me, are by far the most fascinating creatures on this planet. Close seconds would be deap sea creatures with bioluminescence.

Typhonis 1 · Post by **Typhonis 1** » 2005-08-19 01:05pm

Swarms of ants vs a hornets nest.....oh man funny thing is that ants are a type of flightless wasp. Yes ants have stingers......well a while back their was a pic showing a type of Black Widow spider that caught and killed a snake in South Africa I believe.

By the way their are types of spiders that live by hunting other types of spiders.

ArmorPierce · Post by **ArmorPierce** » 2005-08-19 01:21pm

30 hornets vs 30,000 bees

http://www.compfused.com/directlink/835/[/b]

Civil War Man · Post by **Civil War Man** » 2005-08-19 01:23pm

Magnetic wrote:Mantis catching Hummer

Is it just me, or does anyone picture a giant praying mantis with a boxy SUV jammed in its claws when they read this?

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2005-08-19 02:35pm

Had a praying mantis in my stand at work a couple days ago. Got it to fly away before my shift ended, so the next person wouldn't squash it.

Max · Post by **Max** » 2005-08-19 03:20pm

Which would win in a fight to the death... a Praying Mantis, or a Centipede that is similar in size and poisonous?

I would figure the Praying Mantis is pretty quick and lethal and the Centipede wouldn't have time to react...but does anyone have an idea?

ArmorPierce · Post by **ArmorPierce** » 2005-08-19 04:40pm

The above link should be http://www.compfused.com/directlink/835/

Perinquus · Post by **Perinquus** » 2005-08-20 01:19am

ArmorPierce wrote:The above link should be http://www.compfused.com/directlink/835/

That video clip, about Japanese giant hornets, is from a National Geographic special called "Hornets from Hell".

"Hornets From Hell" Offer Real-Life Fright

The show was aptly named. These things are nightmarish. Two inches long, with venom so powerful it can actually dissolve human flesh to an extent, leading to surviving victims of these things often being badly disfigured. I watched most of the show. A praying mantis came up against one of these hornets and got waxed. One of the human victims of a swarm of these things, they said, was dead a mere twelve minutes after the attack. I've read elsewhere that they kill about 40 people a year in Japan. Some, no doubt, die from allergic reactions. Some, however, just get swarmed and injected with so much venom they die from it.

Thank god I don't live anywhere near these things.

wolveraptor · Post by **wolveraptor** » 2005-08-20 01:46am

GrandMasterTerwynn wrote:

That kicks sooo much ass.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2005-08-20 02:19am

Perinquus wrote:snip

Those Japanese hornets don't fare nearly as well in their original habitats. They can still kill well, but Japanese honeybees have developed a strong defense against the hornets in which they surround the insect and literally cook it to death. It's the more docile species of bee that the hornets can absolutely massacre, as shown on the video. I wouldn't want any part of these monsters, either.

Pick · Post by **Pick** » 2005-08-20 03:12am

Joe wrote:
Perinquus wrote:snip
Those Japanese hornets don't fare nearly as well in their original habitats. They can still kill well, but Japanese honeybees have developed a strong defense against the hornets in which they surround the insect and literally cook it to death. It's the more docile species of bee that the hornets can absolutely massacre, as shown on the video. I wouldn't want any part of these monsters, either.

It's the April 1996 issue of National Geographic that has the best writeup on that, as it incudes the phrase "ball of death"

Typhonis 1 · Post by **Typhonis 1** » 2005-08-20 04:51am

Horets from Hell arent the only creaures to look out for. In the Southern US there are Fire ants. In Tropical parts of America especially South America yuou have the Bullet Ant. Finally Australia has its own Bullog Ant. Then their is the Army ant.

Perinquus · Post by **Perinquus** » 2005-08-20 04:59am

Typhonis 1 wrote:Horets from Hell arent the only creaures to look out for. In the Southern US there are Fire ants. In Tropical parts of America especially South America yuou have the Bullet Ant. Finally Australia has its own Bullog Ant. Then their is the Army ant.

Terrible as those critters indisputably are, the hornet (even ordinary hornets, as opposed to the giant Japanese ones) have one attribute that makes me fear them far more: the ability to fly. If I were to step on a fire ant mound, I could run five or six yards away, brush off any fire ants that cling to me, and go lick my wounds with no further danger. Furthermore, being unable to fly, ants are more easily caught and crushed. Hornets of any stripe have a much better ability to avoid any attempts of yours to swat or crush them, and the ability to pursue you no matter how fast you run, and once angered, they will generally follow you at least fifty yards before giving up the chase.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2005-08-20 03:01pm

Pick wrote:
Joe wrote:
Perinquus wrote:snip
Those Japanese hornets don't fare nearly as well in their original habitats. They can still kill well, but Japanese honeybees have developed a strong defense against the hornets in which they surround the insect and literally cook it to death. It's the more docile species of bee that the hornets can absolutely massacre, as shown on the video. I wouldn't want any part of these monsters, either.
It's the April 1996 issue of National Geographic that has the best writeup on that, as it incudes the phrase "ball of death"

Interestingly enough, they had a special on killer insects today featuring the so-called "ball of death." It's pretty cool watching the unsuspecting hornet getting allowed into the nest and then getting totally owned by the bees...it's like the ultimate piss-take.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2005-08-20 04:21pm

Perinquus wrote:
Typhonis 1 wrote:Horets from Hell arent the only creaures to look out for. In the Southern US there are Fire ants. In Tropical parts of America especially South America yuou have the Bullet Ant. Finally Australia has its own Bullog Ant. Then their is the Army ant.
Terrible as those critters indisputably are, the hornet (even ordinary hornets, as opposed to the giant Japanese ones) have one attribute that makes me fear them far more: the ability to fly. If I were to step on a fire ant mound, I could run five or six yards away, brush off any fire ants that cling to me, and go lick my wounds with no further danger. Furthermore, being unable to fly, ants are more easily caught and crushed. Hornets of any stripe have a much better ability to avoid any attempts of yours to swat or crush them, and the ability to pursue you no matter how fast you run, and once angered, they will generally follow you at least fifty yards before giving up the chase.

Whats worse is these bastards can strike you in locations safe from other nasties. Like when your driving down the road at 50 miles an hour.

Invictus ChiKen · Post by **Invictus ChiKen** » 2005-08-20 11:58pm

Guess I'm the only one that hates Praying Mantises. So much so that I kill them on sight. brrrrrrrrrrr hate those things...

Oni Koneko Damien · Post by **Oni Koneko Damien** » 2005-08-21 12:17am

mplsjocc wrote:Which would win in a fight to the death... a Praying Mantis, or a Centipede that is similar in size and poisonous?

I would figure the Praying Mantis is pretty quick and lethal and the Centipede wouldn't have time to react...but does anyone have an idea?

The mantis would probably own the centipede. I've seen videos where tarantulas have quickly taken down centipedes of similar size, and they're not even as fast on the attack as mantids.

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2005-08-21 12:18am

GrandMasterTerwynn wrote:I decided that the mantis versus hummingbird pictures on that site would make very good "owned!" pics. Especially since it's so true.

http://www.ufkw-info.net/archive/images/0wn3d.jpg

It's hard to read the red text on that background. You might want to change its colour.

Red text is pretty much always a problem when you're working with lossy image formats like JPEG, and should be avoided whenever possible.

Post by **Kuja** » 2005-08-21 02:18am

Civil War Man wrote:
Magnetic wrote:Mantis catching Hummer
Is it just me, or does anyone picture a giant praying mantis with a boxy SUV jammed in its claws when they read this?

I had a rather different image...

Anyway, that is fucking impressive. Zorak would be proud.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2005-08-21 02:57am

Invictus ChiKen wrote:Guess I'm the only one that hates Praying Mantises. So much so that I kill them on sight. brrrrrrrrrrr hate those things...

Why? They are rather cool, I've only run into two of them, but bother were definatly fun to watch. It's not like the murder babies or anything, just the occasional hummingbird (equally rare for my part of new jersey).