How Intelligent are Mantids?

[anthony2001a]

It's very tough to gauge, but as predators, mantids need keen eye sight and hunting instincts in order to catch their prey. These features have contributed to their ability to turn their heads to observe the world around them, lending them an air of intelligence. Unlike, say, flies which don't seem to be paying attention, when I approach my mantids, they turn their heads and make eye contact.

Years (heck decades!) ago when I raised Chinese mantids, when I came into the room, the would raise their front legs and "beg" to be picked up. This wasn't the fear display, but quite obviously a recognition that I was a part of their world and that they could walk on me, for as soon as I extended my open hand, they began crawling on it trying to get higher. If mantids had a tail, it would have been wagging like a puppy's tail.

How about other people here? Has anyone else observed signs of intelligence amongst their mantids, from recognition to other behaviors? Does anyone have any scientific evidence for tests of mantis intelligence? I'd be curious and if there are any stories, I'd love to hear them.

Anthony

 

[Isis]

I think that mantids posess a bit of inteligence but it is very unlikely that they recognise you as their master- I'd rather say that have a sophisticated conditioned reflexes that you interpret as intelgent behaviour.

First thing I observed is that in general, Hymenopodidae (especially Oxypilini) are more "inteligent" then other mantids. They can use shortcuts to catch the prey (they realise that they can go faster by going another way), they use gesture to comunicate, they seem to be interested by the objects they are looking at (they are very attracted to my macro lens and want to carefully study it every time I try to take a shot).

Things like being used to their owner, being fed from tweezers, not being scared away by a movement and being attracted to it are- in my opinion- a complex programed behaviour they gain when you repeat the same habit often. I suggest keeping mantis away from your sight for a couple of days- in some darker container without taking it on your hand. It will get wild and forget about you- memory would last longer if the mantis thinked. It is not inteligence then.

 

[Jodokohajjio]

I agree with what Isis said about conditioning. Admittedly, I didn’t pay too much attention in my intro to psych class (or even attend very often), but I seem to remember studying some stuff about Pavlov where certain behaviors could be reinforced. In Pavlov’s case, he taught dogs to salivate at the ring of a bell by ringing it and then feeding them. In this case, if you are not feeding them when you remove them from their container, maybe you reinforce their attempts to climb on you merely by allowing them more space to move around. Mantids are ambush predators and in the confines of a cage have the potential to make them restless, so getting out could be like a nice breath of fresh air!

 

[Rick]

I agree with what Isis said about conditioning. Admittedly, I didn’t pay too much attention in my intro to psych class (or even attend very often), but I seem to remember studying some stuff about Pavlov where certain behaviors could be reinforced. In Pavlov’s case, he taught dogs to salivate at the ring of a bell by ringing it and then feeding them. In this case, if you are not feeding them when you remove them from their container, maybe you reinforce their attempts to climb on you merely by allowing them more space to move around. Mantids are ambush predators and in the confines of a cage have the potential to make them restless, so getting out could be like a nice breath of fresh air!

Canines and mantids are very different. I believe that while a mantis may seem intelligent it's really just acting off instincts and having reactions to it's environment.

 

[OGIGA]

I noticed that mantises like to climb on me and walk all over me, even if I never met them before. I'm not sure if it's because I smell like something they like or what. Maybe their claws can grip onto me really well.

 

[padkison]

Mantids tend to go for a higher perch. If you're looming over them, you look like something to climb up. Just a theory.

 

[anthony2001a]

Mantids tend to go for a higher perch. If you're looming over them, you look like something to climb up. Just a theory.

That makes sense, except they (my old Chinese mantises from years ago), learned to recognize that I wasn't a threat and would "beg" to be picked up, even when no hand was in front of them. Usually, they would actually turn around (usually they were head down) when they saw me, and then they would climb to the top of the plant they were on and begin waving their limbs around. Now, they could see that I was too far away to reach, but they understood that I would put a hand out for them. Perhaps they were training me. LOL

Anthony

 

[yen_saw]

Mantis is "intelligent" in sight, lightning speed in striking, and apparently sense of hearing too. Dr. David Yager, one of the professor in University of Maryland, had performed a behaviour experiment. Here are couple of e-mail he mentioned:

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Hi, Yen -

Just want to check and see how your Tarachomantis are doing.

Breeding well? Easy to keep?

Their hearing turns out to be quite interesting, so I'm

thinking about setting up a breeding colony of them. As you know

better than most people, that's a big commitment of time and effort.

I'd like to be sure they are 'lab-worthy' before I take the plunge.

Hope all is going well with you and your animals.

David

--

______________________________________

Dr. David D. Yager Office: (301) 405-7228

Associate Professor Lab: (301) 405-9541

Department of Psychology Fax: (301) 314-9566

University of Maryland

College Park MD 20742-4411

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Yen -

All the mantises arrived in excellent condition. The Pseudempusa are surprisingly large for 2nd instars. Everyone in the lab is quite excited about having them. We will start the behavior experiments today with the Tarachomantis to to see if they can hear. I suspect that they can, but we've never had a species from Madagascar before, and it's a strange place biologically.

Many thanks -

David

 

[anthony2001a]

I think that mantids posess a bit of inteligence but it is very unlikely that they recognise you as their master- I'd rather say that have a sophisticated conditioned reflexes that you interpret as intelgent behaviour.First thing I observed is that in general, Hymenopodidae (especially Oxypilini) are more "inteligent" then other mantids. They can use shortcuts to catch the prey (they realise that they can go faster by going another way), they use gesture to comunicate, they seem to be interested by the objects they are looking at (they are very attracted to my macro lens and want to carefully study it every time I try to take a shot).

Things like being used to their owner, being fed from tweezers, not being scared away by a movement and being attracted to it are- in my opinion- a complex programed behaviour they gain when you repeat the same habit often. I suggest keeping mantis away from your sight for a couple of days- in some darker container without taking it on your hand. It will get wild and forget about you- memory would last longer if the mantis thinked. It is not inteligence then.

Memory and intelligence are two different things. They may be linked, but they are two different things. If your mantises are using gestures to communicate, I'd say that's a sign of some intelligence, however limited it might be. Likewise, using shortcuts is something akin to a rat being timed while running a maze.

And a complex programmed behavior, if sufficiently complex, may be practically indistinguishable from intelligence, wouldn't you say? I would even argue that the ability to learn a complex behavior which is not instinctive is a sign of some intelligence as well.

Anthony

 

[OGIGA]

Mantis is "intelligent" in sight, lightning speed in striking, and apparently sense of hearing too. Dr. David Yager, one of the professor in University of Maryland, had performed a behaviour experiment. Here are couple of e-mail he mentioned:YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Hi, Yen -

Just want to check and see how your Tarachomantis are doing.

Breeding well? Easy to keep?

Their hearing turns out to be quite interesting, so I'm

thinking about setting up a breeding colony of them. As you know

better than most people, that's a big commitment of time and effort.

I'd like to be sure they are 'lab-worthy' before I take the plunge.

Hope all is going well with you and your animals.

David

--

______________________________________

Dr. David D. Yager Office: (301) 405-7228

Associate Professor Lab: (301) 405-9541

Department of Psychology Fax: (301) 314-9566

University of Maryland

College Park MD 20742-4411

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Yen -

All the mantises arrived in excellent condition. The Pseudempusa are surprisingly large for 2nd instars. Everyone in the lab is quite excited about having them. We will start the behavior experiments today with the Tarachomantis to to see if they can hear. I suspect that they can, but we've never had a species from Madagascar before, and it's a strange place biologically.

Many thanks -

David

Interesting experiment. When can we expect results? Or do you know what Journal it'll be published in?

 

[Isis]

Anthony you take it too emotionally. Insects are automatic. The gesture language is an exception, as I said before (though I am not sure whether it has anything to do wth inteligence).

The behavior you were talking about is habituation, not inteligence. (And memory is a crutial part of inteligent thinking so it is not unrelated!)

EDIT: I didn't want to interupt the discussion about mantid hearing.

About habituation: I meant she became used to the movement of big objects and is not scared now by your hand. This is why she climbs it so eagerly.

 

[Christian]

Hi.

Well, judging insect intelligence is a rather complicated thing, but, for an insect, a mantis may show some higher scale of intelligence. The simplest form is some kind of learning ability and mantids are capable of learning to a certain extent.

@ Yen: for Mr. Yager: Tarachodes are not from Madagaskar, but from Africa. I would suppose at least the males to hear rather well, as they fly by night. Pseudempusa are from Thailand, Myanmar and the Malay Peninsula and rather difficult to breed. I wish him good results with these species. He revolutionized the view on mantid sense physiology.

Regards,

Christian

 

[yen_saw]

Interesting experiment. When can we expect results? Or do you know what Journal it'll be published in?

I am sure Dr. Yager has the result presented before, these e-mail he sent me was on Jul 2006. He always goes around the country attending/presenting his finding. ANyone interested can reach him by e-mail: [email protected]

Please don't swarm him with lot of questions though.

Pseudempusa are from Thailand, Myanmar and the Malay Peninsula and rather difficult to breed. I wish him good results with these species. He revolutionized the view on mantid sense physiology.

Yes i haven't been in touch with Dr. Yager since 2007, wonder how is he doing with the Thai budwing mantis. He didn't mention about them when he last received some Peruvian stick mantis (?) before Chrsitmas but was asking if i can keep hundreds of marble mantis he was giving away :shock:

So Tarachomantis Aloatrana does not exist in Madagasca?

 

[Christian]

Hi.

Oh, there was a misunderstanding: Tarachomantis is well from Madagascar, I read Tarachodes for some reason. Sorry for this.

Greets,

Christian

 

[anthony2001a]

Anthony you take it too emotionally. Insects are automatic. The gesture language is an exception, as I said before (though I am not sure whether it has anything to do wth inteligence).The behavior you were talking about is habituation, not inteligence. (And memory is a crutial part of inteligent thinking so it is not unrelated!)

I never said memory was unrelated to intelligence, only that they are two different things.

And the behavior is *not* habituation, but instead evidence of learning. Habituation would be a reduction in response due to repeated stimulation. If you're going to throw out a term like that, you really should understand the proper definition.

Anthony

 

[yen_saw]

Received a surprise e-mail from Dr. Yager yesterday asking for some mantids so pop him the question about mantids hearing, this is what he said (some text deleted) if anyone is interested

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Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2007 22:10:50 -0500

From: "David D. Yager" <[email protected]>

Hi, Yen -

********(deleted)***********

We've had quite good luck with the hearing studies. Basically, if a mantis has long wings and is a good flyer, it also has good hearing. BUT they hear only ultrasound (above 20 kHz), far above what we can hear. There are a few exceptions like Thesprotia, but overall it looks like about 80% of mantises can hear. Also mantises have only one ear located in the middle of the body - pretty strange. There still are many, many species we need to test, especially because we've found that not every species has the same type of hearing.

********(deleted)***********

Cheers,

David

===================================

 

[Jodokohajjio]

In the book The Praying Mantis, they have a neat section on mantis hearing. They also have an interesting experiment regarding in-flight reactions to sounds heard. The experimenters conjectured that the reason they hear sound at such high frequency is so that they can hear bats using echolocation. I heard about this book on the forum and bought it a while ago. I highly recommend it!

 

[neburg964]

I've also noticed my Chinese mantids waving their arms and turning to follow my movements as I walk past their enclosures. But, I've had them do a couple of other things that definitely suggest recognition to me.

1) If they were outside of their enclosures and I ignored their gestures, they would fly to me. This happened often enough that I didn't think it was a random event.

2) They also seem to have a fascination with human faces, and are always trying to climb up to mine. Normally, I would associate this behavior with a mantid's climbing instincts, but if I am holding the mantid in my hand and raise my hand above my head, they would climb down to my face.

I think the fact that a mantis will gently lick the salt from your skin without trying to bite, and will turn and attack another insect in the same instant, shows a little intelligence. Also, I've had my mantids readily come to my hand, but shy away from the hand of a stranger. Again, this appears to be a simple form of recognition.

 

[awesomebillfromdawsonvill]

Great post fellas! I gotta say i agree with the statement that mantids like to climb on humans, or at least large moving things. I have also noticed that a mantis left from its cage make a nice little trip and leap onto my hand while i was working with anothers container. I have also noticed them holding out their hands "begging" to be held. Just seems like a really strange behavior to try to grab onto a moving object you know is to far away. Really odd, and i always notice this behavior. If one is sitting on the edge of his container and my hand comes any where near them, they will reach out and try to grab on, or even jump to it if i wait long enough. its a little troubles some when you want the little bastids to just hold still while you do clean up.