Praying mantis eats murder hornet alive in viral video, sparks hilarious reviews: 'Gives me hope for the future'
A horrifying video of a praying mantis munching on the head of a living murder hornet has gone viral on Twitter.
The clip was originally uploaded by social media channel, 'Nature is Metal.' Established in October of last year, the channel claims to offer the “darker side of nature” which a disclaimer in its bio reading, “WARNING: Contains graphic content involving wild animals killing, eating, and fighting for dominance.”
The video in question shows an Asian giant hornet, aka a murder hornet, going head-to-head with a mantis. The mantis reaches out and takes the hornet into its death grip, refusing to set it free even as the latter squirms in an attempt to free itself.
The greenish-brown insect continues to dig into its yellow and black opponent's head with its sharp mouth, chomping away piece by piece. In the end, like something straight out of a horror movie, an almost headless hornet's body continues to show movement as the mantis carries on its attack.
Within hours of the video being uploaded, it had been viewed nearly 500,000 times. At the time of writing this article, the video had already garnered over 750,000 views, 5,000 retweets, and over 20,000 likes.
The video gave rise to some pretty hilarious comments and posts on social media. "Hi @realDonaldTrump I have some 'serious science' to share with you. It is my recommendation we deploy the national Praying Mantis reserves to the Pacific Northwest in order to combat the Murder Hornets," one user wrote, while another user commented, "Praying Mantis Eats Murder Hornet. Shows you what a little praying can do to the evil in this world."
A third hailed the mantis a hero, by saying, "Watching a praying mantis dismember a murder hornet gives me hope for the future."
Some comments were also directed toward the fact that murder hornets were first spotted in Washington state in December 2019 near the Canadian border by the Washington Department of Agriculture WSDA. Their existence became widely known to the people of the United States earlier this month.
"So, the US needs to bring in praying mantis to take care of the murder hornet problem. Now to find out what will be needed to take care of the praying mantis problem.. I'm sure there was a song about this," one user said, while another one said, "I needed to see this video. Murder Hornets were the scariest thing. Then we learn they get roasted by bees and a friggin Praying Mantis can suck one down like marrow. I'm taking some comfort in this right now."
Murder hornets are native to Asia, and reportedly kill upto 50 people per year in Japan. They can sting through beekeeper suits, produce nearly seven times more venom than a honey bee and sting more than once, per a report from Washington Department of Agriculture.
They are also the nemesis of bees as they can kill adult bees when they become active during the summer months and go into the hive and feed on the pupae and larvae.
Darren Mays, an officer with the New York Police Department’s beekeepers unit, said that he cannot verify the authenticity of the viral video but said he keeps one of the insects in his own backyard.
"I order Praying Mantis eggs every year to keep in my yard to help fend off other flying insects,” he told Heavy in an exclusive statement. “They’re great to have around.”
Susan Cobey, a bee breeder at Washington State University, told the New York Times that the appearance of murder hornets was something of public health hazard. “They’re like something out of a monster cartoon with this huge yellow-orange face,” she said.
Todd Murray, WSU Extension entomologist and invasive species specialist, said the hornet is “shockingly large.”
“It’s a health hazard, and more importantly, a significant predator of honey bees. We need to teach people how to recognize and identify this hornet while populations are small so that we can eradicate it while we still have a chance," he said.