# How do mantises sleep?



## BellsBird (Jan 13, 2010)

Just curious if mantises pull any cute position when they sleep, or if they sleep standing up


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## PhilinYuma (Jan 13, 2010)

Robyn said:


> Just curious if mantises pull any cute position when they sleep, or if they sleep standing up


The sleep standing up, like cows (but not kangaroos).


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## BellsBird (Jan 13, 2010)

PhilinYuma said:


> The sleep standing up, like cows (but not kangaroos).


Haha, thanks


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## JoeCapricorn (Jan 13, 2010)

Insects don't sleep the same way we do. They are still alert, and their eyes can still detect movement.

However, they do go through periods of still motion, especially if they are diurnal, they'll be still during the night. Mantises probably just cling to whatever branch they are on for the night, while Grasshoppers rest on the ground and climb up to the top of the plants in time to bask in the sun.

I think my African mantises are sleeping when they are completely still, and can tell when they are awake because they often clean themselves. They don't do this while sleeping, only while awake.

In fact, I think sleep makes for a sensible reason why sometimes, at night if I poked at a Chinese mantis sitting for a long period of time on my desk, she would do a sudden threat pose - I woke her up, she has no idea it was my finger and not some bird... I startled her from her restful slumber.

You know what would be very interesting? All mantises wiggle their antennae. I wonder, if there is a difference in wiggles per second (wz, or wigglehertz) when they are sleeping as opposed to when they are awake. At least there should be differences when their body temperature is lower, their wiggles per second is lower. I practically could hypnotize myself with these wiggles with Chinese mantises, and my Giant Asians and African mantises all wiggle their antennae. Some mantises wiggle their antennae very fast - Boxing mantises whip them around at super sonic speeds - like... Megawigglehertz!!!!


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## PhilinYuma (Jan 14, 2010)

That's a nice post, Joe!

The kiwi weta, Robyn, really chills out at bedtime. It lives up in the mountains, which freeze at night. The weta freezes, too, and defrosts when the sun comes up!


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## BellsBird (Jan 14, 2010)

Wow, that _was_ an interesting post, Joe Thanks!

At least i know how to make Dotty pull a threat position for the camara wthout _really_ annoying her, like poking her or something :lol:


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## BellsBird (Jan 14, 2010)

PhilinYuma said:


> That's a nice post, Joe!The kiwi weta, Robyn, really chills out at bedtime. It lives up in the mountains, which freeze at night. The weta freezes, too, and defrosts when the sun comes up!


Sorta like their own mini hibernation? That's pretty Cool B) (Pardon the pun) I'm beginning to like a whole asortment of insets! Apart from spiders. I could never, _ever_ like spiders..... :blink: 

I like Katydids though

--Robyn


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## JoeCapricorn (Jan 14, 2010)

I keep my mantises on my desk. I have the African mantises in small round Ziploc twist-cap containers with cracks on the lids for ventilation, and the Giant Asian mantises are in the vials they came in and will probably be for the next two molts before upgrading to their own Ziploc containers. There is nothing quite like waking up first thing in the morning and looking over at my desk from my bed and seeing the tiny little mantis heads popping up while they are hanging upside down from the lids of the Ziploc containers (which are covered in paper towel for traction)

Their rest position always has their fore paws (yeah, I know... I'm calling mantis' raptorial arms paws... lol) folded, but the arms themselves slightly extended as opposed to pressed up close to their body (like they are ready to strike). The only thing moving is their antennae, but usually I start to see them stir awake - they usually start "vibrating", sometimes start crawling. They might even seem like they are kissing the container or trying to get out, but this hasn't been a problem lately since I upgraded their containers (before, Angel and Fortune had sort of "cataracts" form on their eyes from being in a tight container... Angel was especially bad since I switched him with Meek to give Meek room to molt to L5 (Angel already was L5))

Okay, of all insects to have a really cute resting position... mantises are definitely up there, but I still cannot get over the ADORABLE resting position of Nectarine, my sweet pet Eastern Lubber grasshopper. All grasshoppers rest with their hopper legs relaxed and folded close to their bodies, their knees forming an acute angle with their abdomen. They aren't tensed as they are when they are about to jump - knees below abdomen, they are relaxed. Hoppers do this to prepare in the event of disturbance - in that case they hop or fly. Eastern Lubbers are strange in that they don't hop very well, Nectarine almost never hops. Lubbers in general have skinny hopping legs (comparable to the shape of a Katydid's legs) but also a heavy body and short useless wings (which are for show instead of flight - Males use them in mating rituals and they might also serve as a threat display) -

Nectarine is very docile. She will eat from my hand. I love handing her food. I change her food twice a day, I don't give her much at a time. The food just goes limp after a while and I change it, replacing all the limp food with fresh food - Organic spring greens. I had 4 of these creatures, two female and two male, but now only Nectarine remains. Her favorite is generally Tango, a type of lettucey green kinda like Romaine lettuce or something but whatever she just loves it! Squee! Maybe next time I might just get a Tango blend instead of spring greens, since there are many of the greens she generally avoids.

Here is a video of Nectarine grabbing some Tango:

The "female that is over here" sitting on the speaker facing leftward is Nectarine.


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## BellsBird (Jan 14, 2010)

hahaha,i guess you're now my walking encyclopedia for mantids and such now Joe :lol: 

Looking at the vids now

--Robyn


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## BellsBird (Jan 14, 2010)

Robyn said:


> hahaha,i guess you're now my walking encyclopedia for mantids and such now Joe :lol: Looking at the vids now
> 
> --Robyn


Nawwww, poor OJ  Wow, those certainly are large crickets. the ones I was looking at the local pet store were much, _much_ smaller!


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## Rick (Jan 14, 2010)

Mantids don't sleep in the way we are familiar with.


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## hibiscusmile (Jan 14, 2010)

haha, I like your new words, for how fast they go.. haha


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## BellsBird (Jan 14, 2010)

I remember as a kid when i had guinea pigs, i used o get up at six in the morning, and sneak up on the cage and then shine a torch light on em to see if i could catch them sleeping  . I never did! i wonder why... :lol: 

Also, speaking of roos and cows and mantids, I've always thoght koalas must have an unfortable night. They wedge their furry behinds in a fork in a tree and then go to sleep in a position they can't fall out of :lol: Cute!!

--Robyn


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