Respect the mantids
On r/praying_mantis, someone reposted an image from TikTok of a killed mantid with limbs severed and guts on concrete, with the caption, “One praying mantis down. Cause of death: beaten with a stick and took it like a good girl. I flung it around a bit and all it did was stand there looking at me, and then I decided I didn’t want any mantises in MY pretty pink plants so I killed it.” The comments—in this forum of mantis caretakers—were obviously appalled, treating it as if someone had just confessed to killing a dog on social media. I agree that a praying mantis is weirder and more majestic and probably worth respecting more than other bugs, but I can’t exactly articulate why. Why are there no roach collectors? Disease? Something about the mantis feels exotic without feeling threatening.