Mantis vs Cicada (8/23/2005)

An unfortunate Cicada in the clutches of a hungry Praying Mantis. Because of the increasing rarity of Praying Mantises I chose not to deprive this female of it's meal. The cicada was beyond saving when I discovered the situation (because of the unfamiliar style of buzzing from the cicada in this clip. I've always enjoyed the songs of cicadas and I collected their shells when I was little. This was a sad but fascinating occurrence. It all happened on a busy city street.

(Notes: Cicada are harmless. Cicadas are not Locusts. They do not bite or sting. They do not eat or destroy any crops or trees.)

Category:

Education

Tags:

• praying
• mantis
• cicada
• eaten
• alive
• circle
• of
• life
• downtown
• city
• Dayton
• Ohio

[nooloo3000]

how long did it take befor the thing shut up

[BonKH]

@nooloo3000 I'm not sure. This cicada was making unusual noises for between 5-15 minutes before I ever went to find it. My first search failed to spot the mantis, so I thought the cicada had escaped from a bird. The screeching continued another 10 minutes or so, prompting me to look again, at which time I saw the cicada was in the clutches of the mantis. A closer look revealed that the cicada was beyond saving and I let nature take it's course. I don't recall how long it continued after that.

[TylerSC93]

Just so you know, Cicadas CAN hurt you. Not significantly though. I found one at work and was handling it, while looking away it had mistaken my arm for a branch and I felt a sharp pain then turned to see it's beak, (similar to a mosquitos) in the tip of my finger. Quite painful. Due to shock I threw the little guy :/ he was ok though and released later after I showed people at work that they can actually bite people lol.

[BonKH]

@TylerSC93 Interesting. They do feed on the roots of trees while growing underground, but not enough to harm the tree. I've seen the "beak" but have never seen it in use. I have believed the "beak" to be left over from the larval stage, as I've never managed to witness one doing anything resembling eating. However, after a quick search for the words "cicada" and "feeding" I found some pictures of the straw-like "beak" in action. Unfortunately, you must have found a very hungry one!

[farmerdude5]

those things are fucking wonderfully camoflaged. I couldn't tell until like 5 seconds into the video where the mantis was. And that was with the cicada trying to get away.

[BonKH]

@farmerdude5 - it was like that for real too! I heard the cicada making those unusual noises (for a cicada) and went out to see what was up. I saw the cicada in the tree. I figured it had managed to escape from a bird, so I let it be. It was a nice day so the door was open and that thing kept screeching. I went back about half an hour later and finally noticed the mantis. That's when I ran for my camera.

[BonKH]

@561251503 - this clip was shot using a (now old) digital still camera. Available memory wouldn't allow me to shoot video of the whole meal, which took several hours.

[561251503]

What happened to the eating process?