# What are mantis flies like?



## 3.1415926 (Sep 24, 2009)

I would appreciate backround knowlage on mantisflies but I just want to know if they are intelligent like mantids or are they stupid like guppies.


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## bassist (Sep 24, 2009)

Define intelligent.


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## Rick (Sep 24, 2009)

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=mantis+fly


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## PhilinYuma (Sep 24, 2009)

10dor1fro32 said:


> I would appreciate backround knowlage on mantisflies but I just want to know if they are intelligent like mantids or are they stupid like guppies.


Good question about their relative IQs! Mantids, mantis flies and guppies have all had the WAIS-R NI (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised as a Neuropsychological Instrument and not to be confused with the WAIS IV) administered and their results were as follow, with 100-110 being deemed average:

Guppy: -35

Mantis: -113

Mantis fly: -137

So you can see that the guppy, being a vertebrate an all, is not as dumb as an insect but the mantis fly is appreciably dumber than a mantis.

Hope this helps!


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## Ntsees (Sep 24, 2009)

Rick said:


> http://lmgtfy.com/?q=mantis+fly


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## jameslongo (Sep 24, 2009)

Rick said:


> http://lmgtfy.com/?q=mantis+fly


Hahaha that's amazing! Hear, hear!


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## 3.1415926 (Sep 24, 2009)

I want the personality of the mantis flies not backroung information. Are mantis flies sort of like keeping a fish or potted plant of can they actully be considered pets?

I disagree with PhiliaYuma

humans: -99999999999 excluding the smart ones:100-150

guppy: 10

cat:1000

mantis:1000

mantis shrimp:1000

dolfins:1000

ant colony:100

lone ant:5


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## jameslongo (Sep 24, 2009)

Mantis Flies are the cousins of lacewings with raptorial forearms. They are active predators so you'd think they wouldn't act dissimilar to mantids.


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## PhilinYuma (Sep 24, 2009)

10dor1fro32 said:


> I want the personality of the mantis flies not backroung information. Are mantis flies sort of like keeping a fish or potted plant of can they actully be considered pets?I disagree with PhiliaYuma
> 
> humans: -99999999999 excluding the smart ones:100-150
> 
> ...


I'd say that they are most like fish. Do you have any fish? Try putting a mantis fly in with the fish and I think that they will like it.

I'm pretty sure that you made up those I.Q numbers.

BTW, in your first post you said that you _did_ want background information.

PhiliaYuma


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## bassist (Sep 24, 2009)

lol'd hard at 'PhiliaYuma'

Anyways I see your idea of intelligence is based upon the animal's behavior though the adults of mantispidae are predators the larvae are parasitic feeding on bee/wasp larvae, spider sacs, etc depending on species so keeping a culture going would be difficult.


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## spicey (Sep 24, 2009)

Rick said:


> http://lmgtfy.com/?q=mantis+fly


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## Morpheus uk (Sep 25, 2009)

Whats the point in using a forum if its full of comments saying use google, i know i ask some ###### stuff but i dont have the time to browse the internet, it is nice just to leave a post, get on with life then check it later to see someones kindly answered your post.


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## Rick (Sep 25, 2009)

Morpheus uk said:


> Whats the point in using a forum if its full of comments saying use google, i know i ask some ###### stuff but i dont have the time to browse the internet, it is nice just to leave a post, get on with life then check it later to see someones kindly answered your post.


Because why ask a question that you can easily find the answer to yourself? It is faster to google something than it is to make a new thread.


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## Morpheus uk (Sep 25, 2009)

yup, the internet is so full of ###### most times.

People usually ask these questions after they have browsed anyway.


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## Ntsees (Sep 25, 2009)

Morpheus uk said:


> yup, the internet is so full of ###### most times.People usually ask these questions after they have browsed anyway.


Yeah, sometimes information on the internet isn't accurate. For me, when I'm seeking information to my questions, I usually read a few sites so that I can compare the information. If the websites say the same thing, then I can feel slightly confident that the information may be accurate. In regards to this thread, some questions are just easier to find by just googling like what Rick mentioned. It just depends on the "level" of the question that is asked on the forum.


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## 3.1415926 (Sep 25, 2009)

American google: 2 pictures of mantis flies which if found before I posted

Chinese google (google.cn) : countless pictures nothing on their care.

I wasen't asking for care information I was asking about personallity. I found out breeding was immposible.


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## planetq (Jan 7, 2010)

PhilinYuma said:


> Good question about their relative IQs! Mantids, mantis flies and guppies have all had the WAIS-R NI (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised as a Neuropsychological Instrument and not to be confused with the WAIS IV) administered and their results were as follow, with 100-110 being deemed average:Guppy: -35
> 
> Mantis: -113
> 
> ...


I know this is kind of a late post, but,

Wow- Phil that data absolutely fascinates me!

What are some of the other main insect scales in terms of intelligence?

also where can I find more data on this?

And..what are the top 10 smartest and dumbest insects?


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## kookamonga (Jan 8, 2010)

PhilinYuma said:


> Good question about their relative IQs! Mantids, mantis flies and guppies have all had the WAIS-R NI (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised as a Neuropsychological Instrument and not to be confused with the WAIS IV) administered and their results were as follow, with 100-110 being deemed average:Guppy: -35
> 
> Mantis: -113
> 
> ...


Epic +1


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## PhilinYuma (Jan 8, 2010)

calarts_security said:


> I know this is kind of a late post, but,Wow- Phil that data absolutely fascinates me!
> 
> What are some of the other main insect scales in terms of intelligence?
> 
> ...


Oh dear! That's a tall order, so I shall be brief. Sunny and I did most of this work in the summer of 08 when she was 14 and I was Old. Although I am most familiar with neuropsych test protocols, we both realized that there are obvious interspecies discrepanceies that are not easily reconciled and, at Sunny's suggestion (she had just read _The Hitchhiker's Guide_), we used Brett Watson's "Magic Monkey Formula": http://www.nutters.org/docs/more-monkeys (note that you will save time as you work the formulae if you attribute the same value to e and the natural log, n)

That was the easy part. To keep our standard error within manageable limits, we used 100,000 monkeys, goldfish, mantids and mantis flies (building a typewriter suitable for even one mantis fly presents significant problems, and over half were left clawed), and the experiment was carried out in a time capsule, so that we could complete100,000 years of exps before Sunny had to return to school. The results were remarkably consistent with the raw IQ scores, once we corrected for some practical problems, like the three monkeys that ran away to join the circus and 27 goldfish that were accidentally eaten when some of the mantids got loose.

At the end of testing:

27 monkeys produced a copy of Shakespeares's _Hamlet_ 13 in the 2nd folio version and 14 in the Furness variorum edition.

5 guppies produced _Hamlet_ in a variety of editions (variorum editions were graded only on the play, not the citations).

0 mantids produced _Hamlet_, but three produced _Two Gentlemen of Verona_ (and when did you last see a professional production of that?)

0 mantis flies produced _Hamlet_, but three produced _Fun with ###### and Jane,_ with a few minor typos.

Obviously, with such a small n, the experiment requires duplication to establish its validity, but I trust that these results will inspire you to try some related experiments of your own. If you do, I can put you in touch with an inexpensive source for --just a moment -- 999,270 monkeys.


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## Katnapper (Jan 9, 2010)




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## MantidLord (Jan 10, 2010)

PhilinYuma said:


> Oh dear! That's a tall order, so I shall be brief. Sunny and I did most of this work in the summer of 08 when she was 14 and I was Old. Although I am most familiar with neuropsych test protocols, we both realized that there are obvious interspecies discrepanceies that are not easily reconciled and, at Sunny's suggestion (she had just read _The Hitchhiker's Guide_), we used Brett Watson's "Magic Monkey Formula": http://www.nutters.org/docs/more-monkeys (note that you will save time as you work the formulae if you attribute the same value to e and the natural log, n)That was the easy part. To keep our standard error within manageable limits, we used 100,000 monkeys, goldfish, mantids and mantis flies (building a typewriter suitable for even one mantis fly presents significant problems, and over half were left clawed), and the experiment was carried out in a time capsule, so that we could complete100,000 years of exps before Sunny had to return to school. The results were remarkably consistent with the raw IQ scores, once we corrected for some practical problems, like the three monkeys that ran away to join the circus and 27 goldfish that were accidentally eaten when some of the mantids got loose.
> 
> At the end of testing:
> 
> ...


LOL'd so hard! :lol: :lol: Especially love the part, "when she was 14 and I was Old". Excellent experiment, but what was the origin of the monkeys, guppies, mantids, and mantis flies. Perhaps they had a predisposition to Shakespeare which "contaminated" the bases of intelligence.


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