Capable of recognizing food sources?

[TheBeesKnees]

So, ever since I've started hand feeding my hierodula honey as a snack after the occasional meal, she's made a habit of crawling across her terrarium to get as close to me as possible upon spotting my face.

I would have never assumed that an insect would have the capability of this kind of long term recognition, but perhaps I am wrong! I feed her with my hands, but she seems to primarily respond to seeing my face. Does she actually have the capacity to recognize that, if my 'face' is present, there is a possibility of receiving honey?

How this could even be possible baffles me, but the endearing behavior persists!

 

[sally]

I don't know about the facial recognition, but some of my mantids def know when it is me and not someone else. I know it sounds silly, but if I am in the room with another person and they are holding one of my older mantids (especially the male Rhombo) the mantid usually tries to come to me lol. My Rhombo male will fly across the room to me...I Def am associated with a food source I guess. Sometimes if I am standing up I think it is an attempt to get up high in the room...but most of the time I will be sitting and they usually come over to me. Not the smaller sp and not the Orchids though. Seems to be a Rhombo thing lol.Not the Deroplatys either. Strange

 

[Rick]

Some learning has been observed in insects. I have never seen anything like you describe though. I often see people on here mention that their mantids come to them or recognize them. In all the years I've kept mantids I've never seen anything even close to these observations. Call me a skeptic.

 

[Shadow]

When I was feeding her i let my friends feed her but she refused and just walked to me.But when I went inside i dropped her food and she snatched it

 

[hibiscusmile]

I agree, mine have seemed to know me. My husband says they do too, so maybe he noticed before I even did.

 

[Termite48]

For sure this recognition thing is possible. This nice trait exists in some pet fish like Goldfish and Bettas. It is more obvious and easy to witness if you have only a few mantids, you handle them, and allow them outside the cage privileges.

 

[MandellaMandy123]

Yes, I agree with Rich - I think it definitely depends on how much you handle the mantis. I currently have only five mantids, and they all seem to be very comfortable with me holding them, since I handle them each every day and allow them time out of their containers. In the past though, when I've had 20+ mantids and less time to give them individualized attention, they would run from me and play dead if I tried to handle them. (I still have one who plays dead sometimes - I don't know why, but he's sort of a coward and will even do it if his container is moved. :lol: ) And I definitely remember several instances in the past that I have tried to release wild caughts only to have them return to their containers that were hanging outside, so they definitely recognize where they get fed.

 

[Digger]

Although I possess a strong background in science (not entomology) I am a careful skeptic. But I have to agree with Tammy, Rich and others regarding "recognition." I too keep very few mantids at a time and handle them regularly. Tiffany, my sole charge at the moment, is an old Tenodera sinensis. She has been in the habit, for a while, of walking onto my hand (back of the hand) and hunkering down to relax as long as I allow it. Like others, she's fed by hand. I'll admit, since she's kept as a true pet, rather than more for breeding, I believe that anthropomorphization is a somewhat natural response on our part (at least some of us). When I put my hand near her (I've recognized this with most other mantids I've kept), there is an obvious, marked response with antennae movement. Is that a response to a large encroaching object? Is it a response to increased temperature? Can the antennae register a "scent," and remember it as friendly? I've read that the males can only recognize female pheromones (although I'd like to find more peer review articles on the subject), but what about females?

 

[Sticky]

I remeber my juvenile chinese male waving his antenae forward when a treat was near. Nobody else though has done that. Unfortunately he's gone. He developed a kink in his abdomen.