# Do you find praying mantises cute? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 6, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051 "2014-01-06T18:43:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Peaton\_of\_peat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecae2f/32.png) [@Peaton\_of\_peat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peaton_of_peat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/1 "2014-01-06T18:43:53Z")
Got in a disagreement with somebody over whether mantises are cute or not, and I’m turning to you guys to resolve it. I’m not explaining WHY you should find them cute because I don’t want to taint the poll results, I just want to know how cute people think they are. In case you don’t know what a praying mantis is, it’s a predatory insect that [looks](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VlWML9h6Y_Y/S5CIgzLGvUI/AAAAAAAACWw/XT-0I2WVxwA/s640/mantis-tx.jpg) [like](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3278/2969655795_b9fe18c8e3_o.jpg) [this](http://thebluebrick.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/img_2785.jpg). For what it’s worth, I think all sorts of bugs are cute that most people don’t, including [house centipedes](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-21n75pG3LQ8/UJHDkq6nmRI/AAAAAAAAC9g/NhnssuqeiQA/s1600/centipede.jpg), [deep sea isopods](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Giant_isopod.jpg/220px-Giant_isopod.jpg), [cockroaches](http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg162/BoysinBoo/Pyroach/cockroach1024x768.jpg) (taken in isolation, cockroach infestations are still disgusting), and [bees](http://keepingbee.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/bee-hotel-7-576x600.jpg). You know exactly what you’re getting into when you click those links. Poll incoming if I can figure it out in time. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/2 "2014-01-06T18:56:12Z")
To me they look like [the mantis](http://rlv.zcache.com/bugs_life_manny_praying_mantis_eveil_scary_turban_poster-r67e88bb0cc164d57a2847aeeb9d7e4ad_aaav_400.jpg) from _A Bug’s Life_ and I don’t find him cute, or scary. But very interesting! ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/3 "2014-01-06T19:01:36Z")
Yeah. It’s all about the face. (Also, bees definitely have some cuteness going on. House centipedes… not so cute, but certainly beautiful and graceful–I’m always pleased when I see one.) ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/4 "2014-01-06T19:12:00Z")
No, certainly not “cute-sy” but beautiful in their function. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/5 "2014-01-06T19:28:29Z")
Praying mantises look like koala bears compared to house centipedes, which squeeze through the cracks in your home’s foundation on their way up from hell. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/6 "2014-01-06T20:03:22Z")
is your head or the head of something you like being bitten off? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/7 "2014-01-06T20:14:51Z")
Their faces/heads are sort of cute, but taken all together, the animal is not a cute one. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/8 "2014-01-06T20:21:09Z")
The insect isn’t cute, but the [Don Dixon song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxGB12mbFSg) is. ---
**Author:** ![Peaton\_of\_peat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecae2f/32.png) [@Peaton\_of\_peat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peaton_of_peat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/9 "2014-01-06T20:30:33Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > is your head or the head of something you like being bitten off? Hey, cats torture small animals and then disembowel them before giving them as gifts, and they mate painfully with barbed willies. Does that somehow stop them from being the gold standard of cuteness? For that matter, ladybugs are voracious predators but they’re considered cute. Doing something abhorrent obviously doesn’t automatically disqualify something from being cute. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/10 "2014-01-06T20:35:59Z")
It depends on size. A full-size mantis is beautiful, in the same way a viper is: something to be admired from afar. Not something to be handled; they can give a good pinch or bite. A small mantis (fits on a quarter-dollar) is cute and fun to play with. I’ll catch them and put them on a flower for a photo-op. Or least out of harm’s way. I also find small jumping spiders to be very cute. I’ll let them jump all about me. They can be surprisingly playful. Other spiders are summarily executed (if a black widow or inside my home) or avoided. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/11 "2014-01-06T20:39:51Z")
They are the pandas of the insect world. Adorbs!! ---
**Author:** ![cherry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/12 "2014-01-06T20:56:53Z")
I find them terrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/13 "2014-01-06T21:05:24Z")
Bees (not wasps) are awesome, house centipedes should go die in a fire, mantises are graceful and so damned neat that I would indeed call them cute. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/14 "2014-01-06T21:06:24Z")
Yes. Yes I do. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/15 "2014-01-06T21:07:57Z")
I like bees, especially those sweet little black Italian honeybees. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/16 "2014-01-06T21:20:26Z")
You gave us the perfect option, \*No, “interesting” is not the same thing as “cute”. \* Much like Walking Sticks, I find the Preying Mantis very interesting and I always enjoy seeing them. But they really aren’t cute. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/17 "2014-01-06T21:27:50Z")
They’re beautiful, amazing creatures…but they’re not “cute”. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/18 "2014-01-06T21:59:25Z")
Incidentally, that little black dot on their compound eyes (which is part of what makes them so adorbz) is an artifact of reflection and/or refraction from the lenses, right? Not any sort of actual “structure” like a pupil. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/19 "2014-01-06T22:26:55Z")
Bees? They’re super-cute! Mantises are fascinating, gorgeous, and ever-so-slightly terrifying\*, but definitely not cute. \*Oh, the shiver the first time I saw one slowly, disdainfully _turn its head_ and look me right in the eye. “…Is there a problem, human?” Yeeek! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/20 "2014-01-06T22:46:50Z")
CUTE? Absolutely not. Sort of cool, in a creepy way? Definitely. Those things are absolute killing machines. My son caught one and kept it a few weeks in a terrarium, and after a while, you couln’t help feeling sorry for even the most disgusting bugs it ate. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051.md?page=2)