10.05.2012

What's Preying on the Mantis

I was lucky enough to take a biology course with my brother during my first year at university. It was during this class that he announced to me with disgust that he hated "meat biology". Any and all animals and what made up their tissues and systems were creepy and distasteful to study, but plants were all right. It was this realization that steered him toward two degrees and a career in agriculture and plant sciences. Meanwhile, I have always held a fascination for both the fleshy and the leafy living things in this world. So, here is a science lesson in some of the creepy crawlies that inhabit our every day lives (sorry James!):

Yesterday, I saw this beautiful green praying mantis sitting on our wall I grabbed the camera and took a few shots. After three photos, it decided that being on the wall wasn't such a great idea after all and flew/jumped onto the road beside the wall. Coincidentally, a split second later, a car drove past and ran it over. Considering that tires really only take up a small percentage of the road surface, that praying mantis was extremely unlucky. 


I decided to run over and take a few post-mortem shots of my ill fated friend and was kind of horrified to find this large brown horsehair worm (Nematomorpha) writhing and wriggling its way out of the mantis' abdomen. If you ever happen upon one of these worms in a puddle, mud, or crawling out of some dead insect, don't be too alarmed. They don't prey on anything but insects and are absolutely harmless to humans. That being said, they are super creepy and it is hard not to flinch away from them as they coil back and forth, especially since some of them can get up to two meters long (shudder).


They live inside some insects during their larval stage absorbing the host's nutrients and break out of the insect to develop into non-parasitic, water dwelling adults. Some studies have shown that the worms can even affect their insect hosts behaviour making them jump into water and drown when it is time for the adult worm to emerge. Maybe this praying mantis thought the road was water? If you keep your eye out for them, I am sure you will come across one sooner or later whether you want to or not.  

3 comments:

Shanon Palmowski said...

Laura, I figured we had a lot in common! I love science, especially the biological kind, so I love this post! I am patiently waiting for the opportunity to see a praying mantis in the flesh...

Now the worm was one I didn't know about, thanks for enlightening me! :)

Laura said...

Dustin saw one of these worms coming out of a dead cricket back in Manitoba this summer so they are even around your area. You are welcome to visit us any time in Japan. It is almost guaranteed that you will see a praying mantis. They really seem to love our yard especially. There is a brown and green one that lives on our bike shelter and makes his rounds on our lawn every day. Last week, William was playing outside and suddenly I heard him shrieking. I ran outside to see what his deal was, and saw that the praying mantis was making its way up his pant leg onto his shirt. William had his hands raised in the air and a look of sheer terror on his face. I quickly had to rescue him and the mantis and deposit it on a nearby bush. They are pretty big bugs but harmless...

Shanon said...

Haha! Oh William! That is funny, I'm sure when you heard him scream you were expecting much worse!

I'd love to visit someday! :)