Orthoptera Study: First discovery of wild mantis (Asian giant axe mantis) preying on fish (peacock fish)
uux.cn According to National Geographic (written by Jake Buehler, ed.: Zeng Baitan): Praying mantises are known to catch birds to eat, but this is the first time people have witnessed catching fish in the wild.
We know that animals as big as hummingbirds can also become the mantis's haunted, spine-stinging forelimbs, but now even fish can't escape their "deadly embrace."
On September 20, a newly observed study, published in the journal Orthoptera Research, described the process by which a wild mantis preyed on peacock fish, dragging the small fish out of the water and feasting on them — a behavior never seen in mantises in the wild.
Mantises are arguably the most ambitious insect predators, sometimes catching and swallowing relatively large prey such as frogs, rats and lizards. According to this statement, eating "fish" is not so exaggerated.
Although scientists know how the mantis's vision works, they are still surprised that their vision is good enough to see into the water and catch fish. The finding also suggests that praying mantises may have the ability to learn complexly.
The lead author of this study is the entomologist Roberto Berger of the Musei del Canal di brenta in Italy. Roberto Battiston, he mentions that although it is easy to find videos of feed fish in mantis aquarium tanks on YouTube, they are actually unnaturally put together. This kind of deliberately letting the mantises in close contact with the fish, thereby inducing a hunting reaction, is no different from the fact that many people deliberately put the mantises in a confined space with tarantulas and scorpions to let them stage a "fight".
Catch it straight
Battiston was originally a friend of his conservationists and was a co-author of this study, Niyek. When Niyak Manjunath sent him a photograph of a male Asian giant axe mantis eating a fish, he realized that the mantis could catch fish.
While in the Indian state of Karnataka, another conservationist, Rajesh. Rajesh puttaswamaiah photographed a praying mantis catching peacock fish in his artificial pool in his roof garden.
Battiston said his co-authors kept an eye on the pool to see if the praying mantis would continue to pick on other fish. Unexpectedly, the praying mantis kept coming back to find more fish to hunt.
A praying mantis is harmless to humans, but it is fatal to locusts. And the praying mantis supplementing the "locust", it should also pay attention to its natural enemies are looking at the tiger behind their backs!
Battiston said, "The praying mantis doesn't come back just once, it's five nights. It's like a fox stealing chickens on a farm."
The praying mantis will step on the water lilies floating in the water to the center of the pool and use the leaves of the water hibiscus as a platform for his fishing. It will patiently wait for a peacock fish to swim near the surface of the water, and then suddenly stick its deadly forelimbs into the water, and the lightning stone fire will grab the booty.
Thanks to this set of kung fu, the praying mantis killed and ate nine peacock fish in two days.
"Sight" is unstoppable
The discovery was so surprising not just because of the mantis's menu selection, but because fishing was a particular challenge for the mantis's vision. The mantis's eyes are suitable for locking on to prey during the day, but the nine peacock fish are all caught in the gray light or even in the dark of the night. Coupled with the water barrier that Batiston calls a "visual barrier," the bug's success in catching fish is truly impressive.
But Batiston thinks he might know how the mantis searched for its victims.
"Mantis eyes work differently than we do," Battiston says, "and they are better at discerning dynamics than they are at judging shapes or colors." And the peacock fish's big tail is like a flying flag when swimming, and perhaps to the praying mantis it looks like a strange bug bouncing in front of it."
Although not involved in the study, neurological scientist Jenny Lee, who specializes in mantis vision, neurological scientist Jenny Lee Jenny Read was amazed that the praying mantis could see it all.
"I never expected an underwater fish to have enough contrast at night to attract the attention of a praying mantis and even cause it to act aggressively," she says.
Clever scythe hand?
The authors speculate that the mantis's repeated returns to fish may imply that the mantis has previously unrecognized learning abilities. The praying mantis probably remembered all the large and easy-to-catch prey in the pool and used the information to inspire nine nocturnal operations.
Entomologist Gavin Lee of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, who was also not involved in the study. Gavin Svenson says it's impossible to know the mantis's motives, but he doesn't rule out that there are complex cognitive processes behind it.
"Everyone thinks that insects are simple creatures that can't go against instincts, but in fact they have the ability to perform extremely complex behaviors." Svensson said.
However, also not involved in the study, The University of Illinois northeastern Neurobiologist Frederick Lee, who specializes in mantis senses. Frederick prete, however, was not persuaded by the claim that the mantis "learned" to fish, nor did he think it was unusual for the mantis to see the fish as prey.
"If the prey meets certain visual criteria, then small vertebrates are already part of the mantis diet," Pratt said.
But in any case, at least the praying mantises can be included in land animals like bats or spiders, which surprise them to catch fish.
Given that only one praying mantis has been recorded, it is not yet clear how common such behavior is. Both Svensson and Lide agree that it is imperative to find out whether other individuals or other species of praying mantises can also fish in laboratory or wild conditions.
One thing is unquestionable for Svensson, these elegant predators have more amazing, lightning-fast secret weapons: "I believe we are only the first glimpse." 」
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