Death by Mantis

[LORD BENIS]

My buddy found this the other day and I thought I'd post it here. Pretty cool.

 

[9Lives]

Awesome pics bro!

 

[Guest]

Good pictures, those things are super fast.

 

[jojajico]

wow thats a big prey. i use to catch those things all the time. they make very cool pets for 10 year old boys.

 

[T.doT.Toker]

Something tells me Natty would like this

 

[fr33th3w33d]

is that a fucking hummingbird? thats pretty whacky

looks like someone got their prayers answered.

 

[genkisan]

These spiders, of the genus Nephila, can catch small birds and bats in their webs, which can span 9 feet or more.

 

[Yummybud]

^ lol, I hate spiders and bugs, my biggest fear other than a fear of heights like most people is the fear of bugs and spiders.

I remember seeing this massive grasshopper sitting on my car a few years ago and I threw my shoe at it and then ran screaming like a girl lol, good thing no one saw me.....

the grasshopper was massive like 5-6 inches long and pretty fat and juicy looking and it had huge eyes that were just staring at me, the huge eyese the size of skittles are waht really freaked me out.

never seen one again.....

 

[Yummybud]

if I saw that spider in my room I'd have to jump out of my window lol and scream for help, somebody call 911! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[Yummybud]

as for bugs I think the craziest insect is the Scorpion....... not sure what they are called but those big scorpions are the craziest, not the tiny poisonous ones but the huge ones that are black or red, saw them at the zoo I think some years ago, pretty nuts.


oh and theres this bug that can shoot boiling hot liquid at it's prey like super hot liquid that it creates with a chemical reaction, I think that's pretty nuts, like how the hell did that happen through evolution and how does it not burn itself with the boiling liquids inside it.

 

[Beetlepumpr]

My buddy found this the other day and I thought I'd post it here. Pretty cool.

He will be munchin down for a long time, you would be suprised at what those things will fight.

 

[Yummybud]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier_beetle

now that's insane. I guess humans have highly evolved brains so we don't have anything cool like that lol, I'd like to evolve to have the ability to breath fire or something cool lol.

 

[genkisan]

as for bugs I think the craziest insect is the Scorpion....... not sure what they are called but those big scorpions are the craziest, not the tiny poisonous ones but the huge ones that are black or red, saw them at the zoo I think some years ago, pretty nuts.


oh and theres this bug that can shoot boiling hot liquid at it's prey like super hot liquid that it creates with a chemical reaction, I think that's pretty nuts, like how the hell did that happen through evolution and how does it not burn itself with the boiling liquids inside it.

Bombardier beetles:

he mechanism works like this: Secretory cells produce hydroquinones and hydrogen peroxide (and perhaps other chemicals, depending on the species), which collect in a reservoir. The reservoir opens through a muscle-controlled valve onto a thick-walled reaction chamber. This chamber is lined with cells that secrete catalases and peroxidases. When the contents of the reservoir are forced into the reaction chamber, the catalases and peroxidases rapidly break down the hydrogen peroxide and catalyze the oxidation of the hydroquinones into p-quinones. These reactions release free oxygen and generate enough heat to bring the mixture to the boiling point and vaporize about a fifth of it. Under pressure of the released gasses, the valve is forced closed, and the chemicals are expelled explosively through openings at the tip of the abdomen. Each time it does this it shoots about 70 times very rapidly. (The spray, aimed with precision, can be pointed in any direction, including forward over its back. This by bouncing the spray off a pair of skeletal reflectors stuck from the tip of its abdomen at the moment of ejection.) This makes a loud cracking or banging sound as the beetle shoots the spray, similar to a bursting balloon. This effectively deters predators, often causing blindness or death, and can be painful to human skin.

 

[Yummybud]

It's crazy how bugs are really the most successful life form on earth, humans are a new species and so many of our ancestors have become extinct but bugs (and bacteria but that's different not animals) have pretty much remained unchanged for like a billion years, like the cockroach and they still are the most likely to continue living.

I've always thought about what it would be like if insects were like the size of humans lol, they'd own the world, a spider or insect the size of a human would be able to prey on any animal, just lookat that praying mantis killing a bird.

 

[genkisan]

It's crazy how bugs are really the most successful life form on earth, humans are a new species and so many of our ancestors have become extinct but bugs (and bacteria but that's different not animals) have pretty much remained unchanged for like a billion years, like the cockroach and they still are the most likely to continue living.

I've always thought about what it would be like if insects were like the size of humans lol, they'd own the world, a spider or insect the size of a human would be able to prey on any animal, just lookat that praying mantis killing a bird.

Hate to break it to ya Yummy, but insects have "owned the world" for hundreds of millions of years longer than humans have existed, and will still "own the world" long long after we are extinct.


The total biomass of insects and arthropods outweighs that of vertebrate life by quite a bit and they are total essential and integral parts of the biosphere. Without insects and arthropods, hundreds of thousands of animal and plant species would become extinct.

 

[reaperz]

insects catching birds, should be the other way around.

 

[Guest]

Yummy, Genkisan. You're both wrong.
Bacteria owns this planet.

 

[Old Man Time]

jeeze....there is something you dont see everyday.....nice pics!

I remember seeing this massive grasshopper sitting on my car a few years ago and I threw my shoe at it and then ran screaming like a girl lol, good thing no one saw me.....

ROFLMMFAO

 

[Yummybud]

yeah but seriously I hate bugs, I know we need them to survive but they are freakin gross little alieans that are probably just plotting a plan to kill us all.

and the thing is that humans have the power to kill every human, ever animal, fish on the planet but we can't kill ever bug even if we blew up the whole earth with nuclear weopons the bugs would still live, probably grow into huge mutant radioactive bugs then lol.

 

[Sammet]

lol poor bird. amazing photo though.