Some kind of Mantis?

[Dirk Hofman]

Never seen anything like this around here (or anywhere actually) before. This guy flew into my face when I opened my garage door last night. Thought it was a hummingbird at first. Reacted by swatting at it, made some contact and it landed in the driveway.

This is in the mid-peninsula, northern California, a few dozen miles SSE of San Francisco.

Anyone know exactly what this is? Seems to be a type of mantis. Can't really ID it from the websites I've looked at.

[Wade Hampton]

I couldn’t tell you the exact species, but it’s definitely a mantis of some kind.


whm

[Mandobart]

That's what our Praying Mantis look like up here in WA, and also where I grew up in NM.

[Chipotle]

Yep, garden-variety preying mantis. They come in various colors, from green to brown tones to even the light brown/yellow you saw. I've seen ones that look almost white.

[Dirk Hofman]

K, thanks. Big freaky bug. Didn't see it around this morning. Assume it ate a small cat...

[Bob Womack]

They have an, ummm... "interesting" mating process. The climax of the business is that the female reaches around and rips the male's head off.

Brutal, that.

Bob

[Merak]

I used to tie a string to one and feed it flies when I was a young psychopath/aspiring scientist.

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by Merak

I used to tie a string to one and feed it flies when I was a young psychopath/aspiring scientist.

Yipes. There was not a thought in my mind about touching that thing again. Took this shot with a 400mm lens…

[edcmat-l1]

Originally Posted by Merak

I used to tie a string to one and feed it flies when I was a young psychopath/aspiring scientist.

Got a strange kick out of that LOL

[LiveMusic]

At least some species reproduce in cycles such that every few years, there is an over-abundance, to say the least. Thousands of them can cover a house or any structure, every tree, bush, whatever.

[Ozzy the dog]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

They have an, ummm... "interesting" mating process. The climax of the business is that the female reaches around and rips the male's head off.

Brutal, that.

Bob

[edcmat-l1]

Originally Posted by LiveMusic

At least some species reproduce in cycles such that every few years, there is an over-abundance, to say the least. Thousands of them can cover a house or any structure, every tree, bush, whatever.

That happened one year back in the 80s. I was a teenager and had a big Vivarium with multiple lizards. I'd throw one or two in the tank almost daily. We had one big shrub that was just loaded with them.

[fazool]

super common up here in the northeast.

Scary looking but harmless

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by fazool

super common up here in the northeast.

Scary looking but harmless

Yeah, just never seen one in person before, startled me flying in my face! Don't like big bugs. Wife hates snakes, some people rats, for me it's big creepy-crawlies...

[frazervalley]

Grew up with them. Harmless to humans. As I kid I would put one in the palm of my hand and we would watch each other. It’s little head tilting and looking around. They eat insects. They will look all casual in a bush and when something tasty lands nearby or walks within range, they will suddenly lunge at them with those powerful arms, hold them and it’s dinner time. They will bite the victims head off and then take their time finishing their meal.