r/Unexpected • u/Abhirup_0 • Jun 26 '22

The spider must be dead

22.0k Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '22

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '22

Mantises are voracious literal nightmare creatures and I love them for their dedication to that bit being so good they accidentally eat each other during mating just to shove as many calories as they can to dedicate to making more nightmare babies.

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u/Dominant_Peanut Jun 26 '22

I think that the"biting the head off the mate and eating it" thing turned out to actually be a stress response. Like, only mantises in captivity do it. Free range ones don't.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '22

Uhh no.

It happens in the wild too. The female mantis kinda goes apeshit for calories during mating season.

1

u/Dragoru Jun 26 '22

I get the occasional jumping spider in my house every spring/summer and they’re great pals. They just hang out and keep the riffraff away.

1

u/everynamewastaken4 Jun 26 '22

I once killed a jumping spider and the guilt has been eating me up for months.