2 Things Mantises Are Most Afraid of

During mating, a female praying mantis occasionally eats the male's head. Even without its head, the male continues mating because its abdomen controls its movements. And the female often goes on to eat the rest of the male. This provides her with the nutrition she needs to lay eggs. But there's another serious threat to mantises. Take a close look at what happens here. What looks like a scene from an alien movie is a creature called a hairworm. These worms can take over a mantis's body and mind. A mantis becomes infected after eating something containing hairworm larvae, which then grow inside and become full-sized worms.