Mantis Shenanigans

[TheWolven]

So what’s the best story you have of your mantis? Do they have a weird quirk or unique personality? This is the thread just for that!

Personally both of my mantises, Macchiato and Mocha, both have done amusing things/cause me suffering. Macchiato really liked our ceiling fan and when we lost him once guess where he was. Then another he just straight up smacked into it and the sound was painful. 
 

Then you’ve got Mocha who likes to attack my nose. She also flung cat food into my shoe two days ago.

 

[Laura wilson]

Sometimes mine like to go in my hair or on my face

 

[Walker Jones]

Female ghost get out of my room, and climb down into an umbrella to hide while i torn my room up looking for her, they are so good at hide and seek when given the chance to escape

 

[lissarae]

My favorite mantis, Penelope, used to sit on my shoulder like a parrot and nibble on my hair. One day she decided she wanted to check out my daughter's hair instead, so she jumped .....and landed directly on her face! Thankfully my daughter (6 at the time) just giggled like crazy and didn't freak out, or Penelope really could've been hurt! I caught it on video and it still makes us laugh, bittersweet as it may be as Pen has since passed.

 

[ANTdrew]

This is a gross story I wish I could “unsee,” but here goes:
Last summer I raised five Stagmomantis carolina. My brother’s apartment became infested with some species of large flies that were drawn to his cats. My son and I caught some, including a huge, gravid female. When one of my mantises caught the gravid female and started eating her alive, she released all her maggots. The loathsome things dispersed and started crawling all over the enclosure. I had to do a complete clean out and substrate change to get rid of them. Yikes!

 

[ANTdrew]

Here’s a happier story:
Only one of my five Carolinas turned out to be female. Shortly after her final molt, we released her in my native plant garden at dusk. Immediately after releasing her, a male Carolina swooped down a couple yards away. It was awesome to see the life cycle of the beautiful creatures coming full circle, and I’m glad my kids witnessed this.