The twitchy dance

[LauraMG]

My orchid has this very strange little twitchy like walk that it does almost all the time. I noticed it a while ago and thought that perhaps it would stop when it molted next, but it didn't. Originally I thought it was because it wasn't eating well, but that's not the case now either. None of my others move around this way, so I just don't know what to think about it! The first video attached is an example of what I'm talking about, since it's not the easiest thing to describe. Sorry about the quality, my iPhone is the only camcorder I have!

 

[Ghostie]

I think the walk is normal.

The jump was cool though. Hehe Spunky lil one.

 

[LauraMG]

The jump was cool though. Hehe Spunky lil one.

This one jumps more than any other I have. Anytime it starts swaying back and forth I back it up from whatever it's near!

 

[Ghostie]

It's name is Leaper! He's trying to tell you.

 

[LauraMG]

I like it! I just hope it calms down as it gets bigger, cuz I don't like it when they're big and jump like that....

 

[elf run1]

lol yea, one of my chinese mantids(full grown) do that all the time..jumped on my face a few times wich is kinda freaky in my opinion.

 

[Rick]

That is normal. Many species do a version of that. Think about it, in the wild they walk that way to resemble a flower or leaf blowing in the wind. This can fool predator and prey.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Completely normal walking, they are a lot like the ghost with their movements while young, even the scaring boy friend is normal :tt2: after all it is a white and pink bug the size of a dime! Who wouldn't be scared :lol: ....I kill me! :lol:

 

[LauraMG]

Completely normal walking, they are a lot like the ghost with their movements while young, even the scaring boy friend is normal :tt2: after all it is a white and pink bug the size of a dime! Who wouldn't be scared :lol: ....I kill me! :lol:

Hahahaha!!!!!! I won't tell him you said that. His fragile man ego might be hurt

And I hadn't thought about it Rick, but it makes sense! I'm an overprotective mantis mommy

And there's a loose BB fly on my monitor right now......

 

[Krissim Klaw]

I like it! I just hope it calms down as it gets bigger, cuz I don't like it when they're big and jump like that....

Lol I love the jumpy ones. They make for a lot of fun when they get their wings and start flying to you instead of just jumping. Still, you should give your boyfriend a cookie for not completely spazing out and squashing the poor mantis despite his fear. :tank:

 

[hibiscusmile]

haha, a cookie! :lol:

 

[LauraMG]

Lol I love the jumpy ones. They make for a lot of fun when they get their wings and start flying to you instead of just jumping. Still, you should give your boyfriend a cookie for not completely spazing out and squashing the poor mantis despite his fear. :tank:

I actually made him brownies!

They're really yummy!

 

[lancaster1313]

It is a great walk. I thought that it looked like when my orchids (plants) get blown by a breeze. My Carolina mantis has his, "I am a stick in the breeze" walk. My chinese have thier own stick impressions, but I don't like when they fall like a stick. :lol:

 

[Precarious]

Cute!

I find that nearly every mantid I've captured footage of automatically heads right for the camera lense. I've had more than a few of them jump right onto the lense, both captive bred and wild.

One of my brown ghosts does it in this video about 1:12 in.

 

[LauraMG]

By the way, how dod you embed that video? I can never get it to work.

Up in the font bar where the bold, italics, etc on the very end there is an icon that says "insert media" and if you copy and paste the URL from YouTube it will embed it into the post.

 

[Precarious]

Up in the font bar where the bold, italics, etc on the very end there is an icon that says "insert media" and if you copy and paste the URL from YouTube it will embed it into the post.

Woo-hoo! THANX!

 

[LauraMG]

Woo-hoo! THANX!

Anytime!