Insects generally aren't really though too highly of. Even the harmless ones get a bad right just for their inconvenience.
They just make you feel uncomfortable and itchy, and then there's the ones that can harm you, just an added dose of ball ache.
There are some mad insects, with not many rivalling the weirdness of praying mantises. They're not too harmful to us humans, but do look like they should be in Men in Black.
Credit: PA
They usually prey on arthropods, using stealth to catch them, whereas bigger mantises are known to eat other insects and sometimes small vertebrates such as lizards and frogs.
A press release from Switzerland's University of Basel shows that praying mantises actually kill small birds and eat their brains.
Credit: Megan Ralph via University of Basel
Credit: Tom Vaughan via University of Basel
Praying Mantises Hunt Down Birds Worldwide, the research shows that the insects take down birds in places all over the world, except Antarctica.
Two scientists (who weren't involved in the research) revealed the way in which mantises are preying on birds and it only furthers the proof that they should be in Men in Black.
Credit: Tom McCarthy via University of Basel
Credit: Randy Anderson via University of Basel
"They just hold [their prey], and they eat them while they are still alive, slowly and slowly until there is nothing left," ecologist Dietrich Mebs told Newsweek.
Whereas biologist William Brown said they 'pierce the skull to feed on brain tissue', which is bang out of order, really.
The study found that there had been 147 documented cases, across 13 countries, where mantises had captured birds, with 70 percent of the cases showing hummingbirds as the victims.
Featured Image Credit: University of Basel