# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/41 "2014-01-10T17:25:50Z")
You must be attributing things to them that simply are not real to find them cute . Puppies are cute, kittens are cute. Emotionless killing machines aren’t . ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/42 "2014-01-10T19:35:41Z")
‪I am going to ‬use the phrase “Interesting but not cute“ in my personal ads and bathroom scrawlings - _For a good time, call **dba fred** - he’s_ interesting _but not_ cute. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/43 "2014-01-10T21:12:41Z")
Of course! Especially since they look so much like Sheldon Cooper! ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/44 "2014-01-10T22:09:53Z")
Looking interesting or cool is not the same as being cute. I am not sure that I could classify any insect as being cute; well, maybe a Woolly Bear caterpillar when it curls up into a ball after you pick it up. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/45 "2014-01-11T00:23:16Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > …kittens are cute. > > … > > Emotionless killing machines aren’t . Well, which is it? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/46 "2014-01-11T01:41:07Z")
When I was a kid I had a huge insect collection. One year I decided to raise praying mantises. I kept an egg case in my room. When they hatched, the house was filled with thousands of tiny, hungry baby mantises. I thought it was great, but my mother thought otherwise. She made me vacuum the entire house, including the drapes. But it was still fun to watch them mate, and watch the female bite off the male’s head. They were fascinating, but I don’t think I’d ever call them “cute.” ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/47 "2014-01-11T04:25:01Z")
Has anyone wondered yet if the plural of _mantis_ should be _mantes_ ? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/48 "2014-01-12T19:43:43Z")
I voted "No, “interesting” is not the same thing as “cute.” They are very cool, and my favorite insect, but “cute” just isn’t the word. I can’t think of any insect that I’d call “cute.” ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/49 "2014-01-12T20:51:39Z")
Interesting, not cute. BTW, although they don’t do it much, they can fly. When I was working at an archaeological site in Israel, one around 4 inches long flew into - and got tangled in - the long hair of another volunteer, at night. That caused a bit of a ruction, all right. It took a while to calm her down enough to disentangle the poor bug, who did not survive the experience. ---
**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 12, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/50 "2014-01-12T23:33:09Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I voted "No, “interesting” is not the same thing as “cute.” > > They are very cool, and my favorite insect, but “cute” just isn’t the word. I can’t think of any insect that I’d call “cute.” Ladybug, [bumblebee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bumblebee_October_2007-3a.jpg)and maybe the[wooly bear caterpillar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IC_Pyrrharctia_isabella_caterpillar.JPG) are possible candidates. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/51 "2014-01-13T15:13:08Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Has anyone wondered yet if the plural of _mantis_ should be _mantes_ ? 🙂 Either Mantises or Mantes. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051/52 "2014-01-13T17:31:10Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Ladybug, [bumblebee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bumblebee_October_2007-3a.jpg)and maybe the[wooly bear caterpillar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IC_Pyrrharctia_isabella_caterpillar.JPG) are possible candidates. Yeah, fair point. There are a lot more cute mammals than insects, though, IMHO. So I’m a speciesist - don’t you judge me! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-praying-mantises-cute/678051.md?page=2)