# I've Heard of a Frisky Dog, But This is Ridiculous...



## jameslongo (May 5, 2009)

OK. I've washed my hands. It's fine. Breathe in, breathe out. :blink: 

I let my Purple-Winged male (Tenodera australasiae) out of his enclosure to stretch his legs. He was really active: climbing all over chairs &amp; taking flight a lot. I'm guessing he is looking for a mate. He isn't really taking food at the moment. He's a mantis on a mission, alright :lol: 

Anyway, he was getting to be a little bothersome, so I decided to put him back in his cage. I picked him up &amp; he grab hold of my hand with his claws pretty hard. Then, his abdomen started to curl over as if he were about to mate &amp;, sure enough, he started prodding my palm with his... well, GOOLIES!!! :huh:  I couldn't break his grip initially, so I had to parry for a while  

What on earth possessed him to mate with my hand?!?! Olga has the female &amp; I hadn't handled it for a few days. Are her love pheromones still on my hand? I've washed them numerous times since then. Speaking of which...

Still not clean! Still not clean! STILL NOT CLEAN!!!


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## Rick (May 5, 2009)

That is the reason I never let males out unless I have to. Especially if they are small cause they fly around and are hard to catch.


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## drolkp (May 5, 2009)

that's nasty but funny :lol: as heck!!!!!!!!!


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## rensallar (May 5, 2009)

Really funny... but gross too, lol


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## Dinora (May 5, 2009)

jameslongo said:


> OK. I've washed my hands. It's fine. Breathe in, breathe out. :blink: I let my Purple-Winged male (Tenodera australasiae) out of his enclosure to stretch his legs. He was really active: climbing all over chairs &amp; taking flight a lot. I'm guessing he is looking for a mate. He isn't really taking food at the moment. He's a mantis on a mission, alright :lol:
> 
> Anyway, he was getting to be a little bothersome, so I decided to put him back in his cage. I picked him up &amp; he grab hold of my hand with his claws pretty hard. Then, his abdomen started to curl over as if he were about to mate &amp;, sure enough, he started prodding my palm with his... well, GOOLIES!!! :huh:  I couldn't break his grip initially, so I had to parry for a while
> 
> ...


Did he at least buy you dinner before hand? B)


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## Xenomantis (May 5, 2009)

AGHHHH! :x

I did not need that image...

Well, at least you know he'll at least try to breed... ^^; I had one who could've cared less about the female (yes, they were both adults, well-fed, and I tried a few weeks after their last molt). All he did was eat crickets and stay out of her way. XD


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## tnienhaus (May 5, 2009)

Dinora said:


> Did he at least buy you dinner before hand? B)


LMAO that is hilarious :lol:


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## Katnapper (May 5, 2009)

James, I had one do that to me too a couple of weeks ago! I was taking him out of his net cage to put him with the female... and as soon as I got him on my hand he grasped on to my finger with his raptorial forearms, crouched down close as he could to my hand, and then his back end started searching! I couldn't believe it, lol! He didn't want to get off either. Ummm.... or I should say, he didn't want to disengage, little bugger! Had to take a chopstick and wedge it under him and pry him off!


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## jameslongo (May 5, 2009)

It is awful, isn't it! I can understand how your male could have been caught up in the moment. But why did he advance on me? My hands aren't too sexy


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## PhilinYuma (May 5, 2009)

While all this was going on James, was he pointed in the direction of your fingertips and nearly touching the the point where the finger meets the hand?


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## jameslongo (May 5, 2009)

PhilinYuma said:


> While all this was going on James, was he pointed in the direction of your fingertips and nearly touching the the point where the finger meets the hand?


He was clasping high up on my thumb (or where my first metacarpus is) &amp; his bum was dabbing along the inside of my thumb (proximal phalanx). I would make more sense your way.


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## revmdn (May 5, 2009)

I guess I'm lucky to have not yet been violated by such a randy insect.


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## PhilinYuma (May 5, 2009)

jameslongo said:


> He was clasping high up on my thumb (or where my first metacarpus is) &amp; his bum was dabbing along the inside of my thumb (proximal phalanx). I would make more sense your way.


No, I think that that is a great and very interesting observation! Much has been made of female mantids' sex pheromones, and someone in Prete speculates that females may be more likely to kill unhealthy than healthy males, but the attraction of a male to both your and Katt's fingers suggests that the mating orientation is at least partly determined by tactile information and that a fat female substitute (the finger is rather fatter than most mantids' abdomens!) is so attractive that neither pheromones nor a real female are needed to stimulate copulation.

On another thread, I mentioned a nifty observation by my friend, Mija. Perhaps I should intriduce you. But no, I fear that there would be blood in the sand! :lol:


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## jameslongo (May 6, 2009)

Yes. Tactile info often does play a part in mating habits. There is one funny Australian example of this. The male Australian Jewel Beetle (_Julodimorpha bakewelli_) has been reported to preferentially pursue brown beer bottles over females. :lol: 

The reasons for this include the texture of the bottle, its shape &amp; shiny brown coloration, all of which are very similar to that of the female. This combo tricks the male into believing he has found the mother of all females  Oh you sexy stubby haha. Review of the Biology &amp; Host-Plants of Australian Jewel Beetle

Realising this posed a problem for the population, the Brewing Company redesigned the bottle to be less appealing to the randy males.  

So, the size &amp; texture of my thumb turns my male on? My hands aren't that scaly


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## PhilinYuma (May 6, 2009)

Someone went out and filmed the amorous beetle. I remember seeing a clip of it on a nature channel on tv!


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