วีดีโอ

we could ask all of your unborn brothers and sisters your mother swallowed.

@ ??

It's always a scary thing to watch. Best of luck to your little mantis!

It depends on the species, but as many as 20 to 100+ can potentially hatch. It's fine to leave the egg case where it is. Mantises usually lay multiple egg cases, so even if that one isn't in the ideal spot, it's likely she has laid more in other areas. Also, the fact that an adult mantis is living in or around your yard means that it's a suitable habitat for them, otherwise she wouldn't have made it that far. If she's not moving much, she may be at the end of her lifespan. Not much you can do. If you want, you can maybe move her to an area with some cover like inside a bush. If you think she might be dehydrated, you can try spraying water using a fine mist sprayer on or near her. Don't use chlorinated water though.

Thanks man, I really appreciate hearing that. Specially from someone with your abilities and creativity.

It's possible. The species is found in a few areas around the world (they're a bit invasive). It's a Miomantis caffra, originating from South Africa.

Yeah, please go ahead. I would love for more people to see this footage. And thank you for asking first. Let me know when the video is out so I can see how you've incorporated it.

It has no name. This was just a short piece I wrote for this specific video, so this is the entire song.

@@stuffinabox_ So you don't actually know the music's name? (If no still thank you cuz i was curious)

@@RenatoEmanuel-ni3gq I'm not sure how else to explain this. I created the music, so there isn't any name for it. Is there a reason why you're asking? Are you looking for a longer version or something?

@@stuffinabox_ Yes. I liked it!

@@RenatoEmanuel-ni3gq I'm glad you like it. Unfortunately the full song is only 1 minute long. If I ever do create a longer version, I'll upload it and let you know.

I'm glad to hear that. Giving people the opportunity to see unseen aspects of mantises that you wouldn't typically see has been my goal with these videos. Thanks for watching :)

No pinches, just a bit of a tickle. In this specific case she was just inspecting my finger for water or something else that got her attention so she was not fully using her mandibles. It's (usually) only when they have their claws wrapped around something that they actually start biting hard. A mantis this size can easily penetrate skin, but you have a few seconds to stop it before it gets through.

@@stuffinabox_ Oh I didnt know they could bite, thanks for replying

No problem. Don't be too concerned about them biting though, they aren't the kind of insect to just randomly chomp on you. Just avoid wiggling your finger tip in front of them, otherwise they might mistake it for an insect.

Yup, its an amazing process. To think, all those little delicate legs and spiky bits are all crammed into that tiny capsule of an egg, and still somehow manage to emerge looking so flawless.

Thank you so much, I really appreciate hearing that :)

Yup. I imagine artists get their inspiration for aliens and other creatures from things like this.

It's just a short piece I wrote/created specifically for this video. Doesn't have a name or anything.

@@stuffinabox_ unfortunate. its very well made

@@shadyindividual666 Thank you, I appreciate hearing that. Maybe I'll consider making full versions of my songs some day.

@@stuffinabox_ you deserve the recognition, music of this kind of calibre is hard to come by

You're right, they're very machine-like when it comes to eating. They actually have a complete behavioral change once their prey is in their claws, like a switch that gets flipped and tells them to pay less attention to their surroundings and just consume whats in front of them.

Yeah, it's really cool to watch when they rotate their heads. Makes it seem like they're always directly looking at you. Also, wasn't ever expecting a comment from the Otamatone Evanescence cover guy. Loved that video.

@moshibass I'm an idiot, I responded to you as if I'd never seen or spoken to you before, but we're literally in the same mantis discord. I suck at noticing names, sorry.

Second comment I'm seeing like this about Antscanada. Does he have a habit of not showing the outcome of stuff?

@@stuffinabox_ no he normally does show everything, but i think this time it was just hard to catch, and perhaps he wasn't filming this time, a fun channel tho, a must watch! ✨️💕

@@dappie7109 Yeah, its tricky to intentionally catch them hatching, specially the type that hatch all at once. This specific species hatches in small batches each day, so I had multiple opportunities. I also had about 6 egg cases to work with which helped. Understandable if he missed the process. Thanks for explaining.

@@stuffinabox_ 💕💕

I'm not exactly sure how many would be laid per sweep, but it would be more than one. There is a seam that is created down the middle and eggs are laid on either side of it, so at minimum there are two being laid.

@@stuffinabox_ thank you!

Mantis lay between 100-200 eggs per hatch!

Nothing fancy, an old Olympus E-M10 and a M.Zuiko 60mm macro lens.

It's a time lapse. It's a bunch of photos taken at set intervals (like 5 seconds) and then put together to play at high speed. Not as smooth as a normal video but necessary for certain types of content. Mantises for example can take upwards of an hour to eat their food. Sometimes even 3 hours depending on the size of the insect. Recording a video for that long is not practical, so a time lapse becomes a better option. Understandable if you don't like it though.

Thanks. Hope your car is doing ok.

@@stuffinabox_ Well, the brakes once again made the same noise on the first day only. My mechanic messaged that I must have a witch in my car. I jokingly replied asking if he meant Kerry. He felt a bit embarrassed, but all in fun.

@@ALionBitMyCar Poor Kerry 😔

@@stuffinabox_ 🙂

😂

Yeah, its cool to see. A lot of mantises have a semi-transparent neck area, so shining a bit of light through there makes it quite visible. It's also very noticeable when they eat darker coloured food.

I really want to have one as a pet. Got any advice on care for a mantis ?

@@SharkyGull It's a bit difficult to give you all the proper info on here. If you can, join the "Mantis HQ" discord server. There's a FAQ that answers all relevant questions and there are also individual care sheets for various species available. If you can't do that, let me know and I'll try type out the basics at least.

I'm in South Africa. It's a fairly common species here, and also non-native. However, I still do my best to not harm any of the local mantis populations. This one in particular ended up laying 3 ooths, so I'll be incubating those and returning them to the wild in spring. The golden venosa is beautiful. I'd love to get a large mantis like that some day, but unfortunately there's no mantis trade here so I'm limited to whatever I can find locally.

@@stuffinabox_ Anyway, great work of yours ! I commented on some of your videos and gave a subscribe. I hope this gives you a bit more traffic.

@@MajorDektarev Thank you. I saw all the comments, I appreciate that.

Thank you! And I appreciate the feedback on the music. I make the music myself, so it's good to know when I'm doing it right or wrong.