Thread by @Alex_Verbeek

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1. This is a Malaysian Dead Leaf Mantis.

One of the over 2,400 Mantis species.

This starts an interesting thread with some great mantis videos.

Stay tuned.

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#insects #nature #wildlife #mantis #NaturePhotography #science #photography #videos

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2. Mantises, like many nature related subjects, is something you can read about in The Planet newsletter.

Subscribe to The Planet and start your day with stories about the beauty of nature, or threats like climate change.

➡️ Please subscribe 🙏

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3/11. If you see an insect with a triangular head, bulging eyes, sitting upright with arms folded like in prayer, it is likely a ‘praying’ mantis.

Here is an example. It is not praying, but eating a bumblebee.

#bees #mantises #insectphotography

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4/11. Some mantises are masters in camouflage. This is for instance an orchid mantis, also known as walking flower mantis, you can easily see how it got its name.

It lives in the rain forests of Southeast Asia, from parts of #India to #Indonesia.

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5/11. Before I continue, on the fascinating sex life of mantises, could you help me?

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6/11. Somehow I knew you wouldn’t leave now 😉.

Thanks for your support, writing is my job and I don’t add advertisements. So you make the newsletter possible.

This is an Ambivia undata, Asian Twig Mantis, another master of camouflage.

#naturelovers

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7. The photo in tweet 5 was posted by @scitechnature9, see under the videos for other sources.

Now about their sex life…

About 90 percent of the predatory species of mantises exhibit sexual cannibalism.

(The first time I use the hashtag #sex)

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8. There is a lot that scientists don’t understand about the mantises sexual cannibalism.
Females on a poor diet are known to more frequently eat their male lovers.

The like to start by biting off the male’s head… 😨

Which makes sense because…🧵

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9/11. Did you already subscribe to The Planet newsletter?

If you like this thread, you will like The Planet.

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It takes 30 seconds.

Then back to the mantises 🧵
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10. Once the male’s head is bitten off, the duration of copulation increases significantly, and so does the chance of fertilization.

Clever men: studies show that hungry females attract fewer males.

Now you know why. 😉

#Nature #mantis #insects

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11. That’s the end of the thread 🧵

➡️ Don’t think about all this before falling asleep tonight, but don’t forget to subscribe to The Planet newsletter to learn more about the (threats to the) beauty of our planet.

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12. Just one more (this thread never ends): a praying mantis in California washing its face, or drinking the water from its head.

#insects #prayingmantis #California #nature #mantis

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13. This thread never seems to end.

One more: some people keep mantises as pets, I remember seeing it in the town where I lived in Indonesia in the late 1980s.

#nature #insects