fun fact about the orchid mantis It is believed by some researchers that this camouflage and mimicry does not serve to help catch prey, but to protect from predators, It is also thought that the shape and motion of the mantis is less important than the color. Insects tend to look for vegetation matching favorable colors, regardless of shape
When seen from above, however, orchid mantis nymphs do have a shape that looks very much like an orchid (five petals formed by the abdomen and legs)! The effect is a bit ruined on adults--I took some liberties.
@@HumansBGone At first,I was weirded out that Gregor knows humans posess sapience,when sophia (the closest thing to an expert) does not.How would he get that knowledge? Now I'm weirded out for another reason.He very explicitly talks about Bicornis & his girlfriend(?) which is knowledge he shouldn't have.How did he find out about this ONE specific moment?OUR historians aren't that precise!
@@BrunoMaricFromZagreb I think Sophodra does or DID know that humans are sapient. In addition to not killing them outright she gets confused at one point saying that theres something she can't remember. Gregorsa seems to be telling this story in the future of the narrative after some mysterious method of communication was established, so I'm assuming he was told about moments he was not present for, which is the whole series as he hasn't appeared in the narrative thus far.
Well, she also is propably one of the stronger members of the mantis colony with those abs. But to Ampusa she is just a meathead that looks on herself. A very intresting mix of hunk and diva you wouldnt see with humans.
@Spider-r6d except for Bicoris, maybe. She seems like she would get a rise out of knowing that even the household pests that are threatened by macrovolutes want to be with her.
That very last thing did give me an interesting thought, we tend to anthropomorphize praying mantis’ eyes for how similar they look to our own, so it only makes sense that the reverse could happen, for a praying mantis to get a similar feeling to seeing a human’s eye
To be fair they only appear similar to us as an optical illusion, the black dots are not pupils or even the fovea, they are just a trick of the light not being reflected in the eyes we are facing as an observer. So by comparaison human eyes where the 'black hole' seems to be alway staying in the same place would likely look, pretty unerving to them, just as we get the impression they are alway watching us no matter the direction we are looking at them can be to us with their eyes. They would also feel very weird with how light reflect through our irises. (Or the fact we even have irises at all...)
@@s.m.2523 Some animals use "fake pupils" to make potential predator think they're being watched. I don't know if something like that would work for insects
@@realdragon Given the compound nature of most insect eyes, I do'nt know. Pseudopupils (that's the name of the dark spot on the mantis eyes) is not a real pupil, but as I sair earlier an optic illusions. (Basicaly insect eyes are made of many little tubes in which the light fall (each effectively an eye of it's own). When the light fall entirely in a tube from our point of cie, then they appear black. If they fall ont he side, it appears collored. That why when we look at a compostie eyes like that, there's alway a black spot that seems to move as our agnle compared to the insect does) Weither or not it has the side effct of detering predator, I do not know.
"Most of all I remember (tho)se eyes." Ngl that little jumpscare actually gave me goosebumps. Have to say, I love this series and I know practically nothing about insects, bugs, etc. so I'm always grateful for the lessons. The way the lore drops are integrated into the story is really excellent and I'm always left with more theories about the world and what sinister secrets Gregorsa is hiding from us.
Why dose Empusa have such detailed eyes? I only noticed it after the fact, also all the hidden details and expressions make this 9m short endlessly rewatchable as we try to decipher its strange and fascinating lore. Well done and I'm so fascinated by this world, if you make other material explaining the lore I think that would be sought after very much. And yes the after credits info is brilliant, you put so much effort into it. It was also adorable seeing the tiny real sized fruit tree in comparison before it mutates into the larger overgrowths, keeps the perspective, then we see those giant orcas and we realise just how crazy this world can get. Beautiful in style, design, information and lore.
His eyes were inspired by patterns on the eyes of actual conehead mantises! Thank you for the kind feedback, I do plan to put out supplemental lore materials eventually!
I just found this series tonight and i have binged watched everything avaliable, and will be digging into patreon soon. and i can't help but theorize. But after having seen everything available twice, the reluctant words of our narrator, the first words he said of him teaching about humans, and now is teaching *to* humans. The "transistor" stolen being an organ for a device that plays pheromone music, and what pieced together words after credits. "The least i could do" and exaggerated gratitude. The humans are looking for ways to communicate! Or, perhaps atleast, to understand, macrovolutes. Thats why they stole the "transistor" which apparently contains the specific chemicals their looking for. I mean, afterall Gregor immediately transitions into talking about humans brains allow communication, and how pheromone communication functions Gregor is telling a story, not just of of "Human-B-Gone" but of how humans fought to be acknowledged in this space. Of how macrovolutes viewed humanity and dealt with them, is trying his best to make for what i can only assume to be a coming war, or inflicted genocide, that were brought on by the actions taken here. Commander, Lt, the humans shown are a military working from "havens" mentioned, and thus thats why i'd framed it as preparing to understand an enemy, rather than seeking communication, at this stage, atleast. Everything im seeing points to a belief of a tragedy, and that this story is somehow deeply interwined with something significant to lead into it, or overcome the basis of it.
Actually I played that idea of them trying to communicate a little while ago, and I agree. Because it played chemical/pheromone music, it could be connected to one of those gas tube things where it separates gas depending on its speed. If maybe there were two of those, (I’m no expert at all in molecular physics) one to divide pheromones, one to divide the order of speaking, and some sort of trained artificial intelligence taught around the chemical analysis of pheromones, could possibly be used to communicate to the insects.
Ooh, this episode left me with a sense of foreboding...in case you're wondering about why Dulsin's being talked about in the past tense...and you follow Rev's commentary as they've worked, you know that in the present of Humans-B-Gone, *there are no bees anymore*.
@@jacobcox4565 I don't know much about wasps, but I've seen video where one guy had wasp nest next to bees so the wasps can protect bees. Wasps had no interest in bees but it might depend on species
I also wonder about what exactly Gregorsa...... did to himself, that we only see him in the void, and he's translating.... having rewatched everything earlier, it sounded like it was a one way trip. What comes to mind is those cybug experiments-- roach brains that were grafted to robots, and were able to control them enough to hunt for food like normal.
While cleaning frequently is necessary and seen as custom among arthropods, I'm fairly certain that Bicoris' cleaning routine would be considered... excessive... even by their standards. An analogue to posh personalities tendency to groom and trim to unnecessary levels, her immense pride in her fitness (the term fitness being defined here as fittest to survive and multiply) taking a greater precedent to her than others is likely. Of course, appearance is the closest analogue to us, but appearance is less of a priority among most macrovolutes, with mantids and jumping spiders being somewhat of an exception; function rather than form is generally more attractive to macros.
Seems like you've refined your animation, seems much more smooth like as a whole. It's very interesting to see Sophodra being so basic in her speech, makes it all the more impressive how chatty she is later on and how more educationally adept she is, as well as adopting the impatience of the teacher around bozos, going to assume she takes the name in honour of The Mother for one reason or another.
Lot's of things going on in this one: Our first hint of the Bees before they were (presumably) taken out by the ants, a look at how Nymphs develop, the Mother whom Sophodra has named herself after (but why?). A neat little detail is the note of Gregorsa's unfamiliarity with visual puzzles. And then of course "those Eyes" at the very end... With a notably unfacceted eye...
@@hellacoorinna9995 I suspect it could be the bees as well as the Empussa and Bicoris conversation make it very clear the mantises are working for the bees in this flashback ("At least we can coiunt on the others for the work the bees give us", "the bees alway want more do they") And there's what seems to be a few hints that the ant taking out the bees may have destroyed the entire pods the bees were in. Generaly the more social insect macrovolute do seem to have a tendency to subordinate and infeodate the other ones
Absolutely love this series! Having your citations at the end is just genius and the way you naturally work all of the IRL science into your story is just top-tier worldbuilding.
52 points and we found all of the mantises in the i spy scene :) that was a fun little game seeing baby soph move gave us feels too because the way she tapped her legs around really reminded us of our own pet mantis that sadly did not live to adulthood. loved the personality in the new characters, too, this show's got such a fun cast
Okay, I admit it, 9:00 got me. Great episode! The Mantis Nest is friggin' beautiful. Sure hope nothing happens (or has happened, rather) to it. :) (Think my score was in the high 30s this time? I wasn't sure if I should count some of them and kinda lost count)
It's so incredibly weird to see Sophodra in a state where she's so… simplistic. I mean, I know she's a child here, but seeing her present self, then seeing her past self, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to think they're literally different people.
I was SOOO excited for this episode to come out and I wasn't disappointed! The staging was fantastic, nymph soph was adorable and cheeky and the three new mantid's look so good in motion! I think Mother Sophodra ended up being my favourite even if she's not as colourful as Empusa and Bicoris. She really gives a tired mother superior vibe with that big shield looking like a nuns habit in the art style. And I have sooooo many theories and I think my current theory about What Gregosa now is might be spot on,[i saw that fungal network!] and that jumpscare!!! I was not expecting that, especially a very /human/ eye but it really adds a layer to the underlying horror in the story. I'm also thinking very intently about the mention of grafting apple trees which goes into my Soph is a clone but also not a clone theory. Really looking forward to seeing more of the story unfold!
Wow, another comment from me…! - I find it intriguing how mantises - in their nymph stages - are taught not to stick together (from how I could easily interpret it). - I dunno why I wasn’t expecting Bicoris to be so large compared to Empusa, I mean, being large is a vital part when you’re a female bug (most of the time). - Gregorsa has never physically went to Dulsin, but he says its just as he remembers it… o_0 - I forgot what a generation pod was tbh - Bicoris grooming herself jumpscared me lmao. I always found mantises cleaning themselves to be quite goofy - The bees are no longer in Dulsin, is that right? - Why did Empusa say that “we’re waiting on a *real mother* “ ??? - “Make sure we’re not missing any heads” lmao 💀🙏 - Okay, lastly, I didn’t get much points (bummer), but can we talk about THE EYE? 👁️ “Most of all I remember these/those eyes” Whose eyes? It can’t be Commander Vera, can it? Feel free to correct me for this is a rant comment
Sadly, I don't think I can answer some of these questions--you'll just have to wait and see! I can say that the generation pod is what we saw Sophodra tumble out of last episode, and that macrovolute bees are no longer anywhere. And you're right on the money with the mantis nymphs!
This episode was so good!! I used to keep mantises. I love the way you’ve translated their behavior into how’d they’d act as macrovolutes-especially how they’re all kinda snippy with each other because they’re solitary lol. I’m biased, but I think they’ve got the most personality when it comes to insects.
YESSS I was JUST looking for something to watch while I hang out with my mantis!! This was very enjoyable and interesting, not to mention adorable with all those lil triangle faced babies. And also answered a question I had, which was why my mantis’s eyes are going dark at odd times today- it’s because I accidentally screwed her sleep schedule up… sorry Little Mantis. (I had to bring her with me on a trip, so there was a lot of stuff going on that probably confused her, but I’ll make sure she is getting back to a regular sleep schedule again.) She is doing great though. She even caught a stinkbug without me helping her at all, it was quite a surprise to come back to see her munching on it. And yesterday she got to do one of her favorite activities, which is to sit on my hand and lower herself down so her body is almost touching me (which I call pancake mode) and then force me to awkwardly sit there unable to use that arm for hours until she decides pancake mode is over or I have to move her. She’s just like a cat. (I believe her going into pancake mode is related to seeking warmth. She only does it when she is standing directly on me or in sunlight, and just sits there looking all comfy. She’ll un-pancake herself if there’s food, of course.)
Your baby sounds precious! Be careful letting them eat wild-caught, however, as you never know when an insect might have been subjected to pesticides or disease.
@@HumansBGone She is precious!!! And yes, I know the dangers. Her and her brother (who sadly died of old age recently…) have actually been raised on wild-caught bugs, and they themselves were wild caught as teeny babies, since they’re invasive species and I wanted pet mantises. We do not use pesticides and I make sure to only choose bugs who seem healthy for them to eat, plus I watch to make sure they don’t injure my mantises or have horsehair worms. It has worked well so far, especially because most of the bugs I get for them are houseflies or ants, both of whom usually have lived most of their life in the house. Her big brother did have some issues (namely, occasionally vomiting stuff that smelled like ladybug stink) towards the end due to his diet being entirely stinkbugs and ladybugs, but that was literally all I could get him to eat- I am legitimately impressed with how bad at spotting food he was. It got worse in his old age but throughout his life he would very often not notice flies when they were running around directly in front of his face, and sometimes even if they touched him. He was always eager to eat me and sometimes water droplets, but rarely actual bugs. He also took a bite out of an aloe plant once… Meanwhile his sister somehow can catch millimeter-long gnats even as an adult- very different levels of hunting capabilities. Funnily enough she is the one who has been in captivity longer, I caught her at probably 1st instar and raised her since, so she’s incredibly friendly, while I caught her brother at probably at least 3rd instar (hence me naming him Big Mantis and her Little Mantis). He was never as friendly and was eager to fly away from me once he got his wings, but I’m shocked he was able to make it past first instar with his complete lack of hunting skills. It made him incredibly stressful to raise since he barely was able to get anything to eat, but he somehow made it to adulthood and old age, and I love him despite his overwhelming stupidity (I have made many jokes about his pseudopupil actually being his singular braincell, permanently offline). I didn’t even know where I could get feeder bugs for a while, because I wasn’t super prepared for the mantises when they appeared tbh. I actually didn’t realize they needed water for a little while… I’m used to raising caterpillars, who get water mostly from their food and who will very quickly get sick and die or just straight up drown because they’re short if there is significant water in their enclosure. So I kind of forgot that mantises might not be the same until I saw Big Mantis drinking off a freshly washed oak leaf that I had set him down on while trying to find food for him and realized my mistake. Luckily I do think that their food was providing enough moisture, and I did let them roam around in the sink when there were ants or flies in there so they probably got some water while in their (hopefully not from the dirty dishrags). I’m sure they were happy when they finally made me realize they needed more water than that though. Little Mantis also hilariously will be entirely unperturbed by my sticking my finger in her face when there’s water on it, she will just go ‘oh yeah! I’m thirsty! I’ll take this random water that just poked me in the face. This is totally normal.’ It’s very cute and a good way to make sure she’s hydrated if she doesn’t realize there’s water elsewhere for her. She will politely whack my finger with her folded claws when she’s done drinking the water as well, so I know to stop sticking water in her face.
Also worth noting that my local pet store treats its insects so horribly I doubt they’re much healthier than most wild bugs that have made it to adulthood… most of them are at least injured and the crickets are very bad at living even when they are in perfectly fine conditions, the way some darken drastically after they die worries me especially because it looks like sickness, and one of the hornworms I bought in order to raise it died of sickness and looked to have either had mites or tiny black scars all over it’s belly, not to mention the layer of mold and wet poop coating its former enclosure and food and the decomposing corpse of an even less fortunate hornworm also next to the food… at least when feeding wild bugs to my mantises I know they haven’t been trapped in such horrific environments for potentially months. And I generally don’t want to support the store any more due to the (easily preventable) horrible conditions.
This feels like if its from a different timeline, where that radical 90s cg vibe never went away, it just mutated and settled into something quite comfortable
so cool watching the mantis eyes change color when it becomes night!! it makes me miss my girls a ton, even if every mantis ive kept seemed to gravitate towards biting my fingers at every chance they got
The amount of actuall real life information used in all of their movement and actions is so outrageously great its always such fun to see new episode. You just can't watch it only one time, so many stuff changes with notes. Amazing work, love how they all move, must take tons of work to make it so realistic, I love all the details, that they use antenas for lots of things instead of claws, the wobbly movement, that young mantises have that curly abdomen, not anthropomorsing them too much makes its so amazingly interesting and alien. And seems like I remembered it wrongly, I though they smell organ is the base of abdomen, but in fact its hearing one.
@@HumansBGone By the way I forgotten what is the is Plant technology they are using called? Is something like techno-organic (combination of Flesh/Blood and Metal)?
Absoloute cinema. I am a great fan of your works! Question. Will you deep more into insects culture? For example are mantises still do cannibalism? İf they do how other insects view this?
I will expand on the question: what do they eat? In our world mantises hunt and eat other insects but in macrovulate world I doubt ants would stand for that
The writing for Gregorsa's notes got even better in this episode. Love that instead of the ususal "[1][2][3]..." harmless biology facts suddenly interrupted by weird and uncanny "[∞]" cryptic lore hints we now have notes that appear normal at first but slowly and subtly turn creepy with their extremely specific wording and framing, as well as some additional context, from the text about how "children" in old growth forests spring up from the stump of their fallen "elders" to the whole 3rd paragraph of the fruit tree note. [POST-CREDITS SPOILERS] | | V And all of that still didn't prepare me for WHAT HAPPENED AT ruclips.net/video/sqURZNehqh4/видео.html. I knew the post-credits notes were eventually going to turn into full-on analogue horror, but I wasn't expecting it to happen this quickly.
I just love watching nymph Sophodra or rather Fescue trying to navigate her environment. Though I am curious, why is it that Empusa, Mother Sophodra, and Bicorus seem to be the only active mantises?
Really neat stuff going on here! Love the characters too, I'm excited to see more of them. Footnote 7 has strange wording, and it seems to relate heavily to footnote infinity from the previous episode, hm... The eyes part was really interesting, imagine a being with thousands of eyes, thinking about the perspective of one that has only two. It'd basically be like being blind! Also, I imagine the whole "eyes that can move" thing would be pretty off-putting for them. I've also been seeing some comments here saying that this whole place and the bees don't exists anymore. I'm excited to see what that's about. GIB MOAR.
Love the personality on Bicoris and Empusa. The mantis home is spoken of in past tense...and the stinger! Does someone have memories of a time before macrovolutes?
this show is so awesome! I love how it’s not only amazing to watch, but I get to learn so much as well! I always wondered about the eye darkening thing because I ahve found a few mantis (mantises? Manti?) in the wild of the same species with varying eye shades and was unsure of the reason. That’s so cool!
*Raises Hand* Prof Gregorsa; I would like to point out that mamalian humanoids do groom more than but once a day; while they only bathe their full body once or perhapse twice a day hands are cleaned more religeously. The oral cavity also recives such attention, as well as 'blowing the nose' to clear mucousa and detritus from the nasal olfactory organs. Another consideration for mamalians is that their bodies need that oily coating, without an exoskeleton they are susceptable to trying out, then their epidermis cracks and that can lead to infections. It's almost remarkable how self-maintaining the claid of mamalia is... _They don't even have to preen themselves._
@@HumansBGone To a degree Sebum is also inhospitable to a number of dangerous microbes; however it is also food for less dangerous by _very stinky microbes._ Gubs just get a bad rap because they are small and stinky.
Beautiful episode- I loved seeing all the new models! I remember what difficulties Bicoris's eyes gave you. It's nice to see you got the model working! 43
42 pts to start the semester, tho I may have been overly strict in my grading. [11] I was surprised to learn that orchid mantises only appear white to humans & other creatures that lack ultraviolet color-vision. I knew many flowers used ultraviolet coloration to help attract pollinators and I knew that orchid mantises where more alluring than the orchids themselves. So I assumed orchids had UV pigments & also assumed that orchid mantises just cranked up the UV coloration to be extra attractive. It makes me wonder more about how they appear more beautiful than the flowers...It also reminds me that prior knowledge can lead to incorrect assumptions.
@@realdragon The paper "Pollinator Deception in the Orchid Mantis" by O'Hanlon, Howell, & Herberstein is the source. Apparently they found that "isolated" orchid mantises were able to attract pollinators better than the flowers themselves. Admittedly, I have not read the paper myself so I'm not sure exactly what they mean by "isolated", whether it just means the mantis wasn't resting on an orchid or was no where near any orchids. The abstract mentions how these were field experiments, but, as I've not read the paper proper, I'm not sure what the procedures for the experiment were.
In fact, they lack UV coloration in the white portions to make brilliant UV patterns on them stand out all the more! (Flowers in general often have hidden UV patterns to guide insects to the nectar. )
2:22 the "thats the way they do it" comment is interesting - I wonder if getting to choose your name as an adult is something that comes from the bees, who as holometabolous insects mature a lot more dratically later in their lives, and might not have the ability to talk (or choose) as larvae
I expected more wider world lore but what we got is a mantis cultural deep-dive. But the spotlight on mantis sences does make more sence with Sophodra as a main protagonist of the series: good eyesight, a primary vision focus, a good individualistic-collectivist balance and gender dynamics with a lot of personality. The males getting consumed after mating is a question but it might still be the case if they are a deadbeat or times are tough. Also funny how a big chunk of macrovolute dictonary seems to be instinctual and encoded scince some basic concepts would have natural chemical smells linked to them scince day one of a hatchling cappable of locomotion. However, there are some drops that are very intresting. The bees. This is definitive proof swarm insects run the economy and thus society of the Macrovolutes, making it a biopunk dystopia for specialised insects with smaller populations. The Mantises here are in a pickle with bees seemingly being sole jobgivers in this section of the planet. Ampusa putting future Sophodra before a bear to catch it might suggest the Mantises are specialised in gub hunting which would make sence with their good perception, stealthy nature and focused minds. But "the bees always want more"? Also bears as pest. The gub hunting might be a red herring since we know Sophodra's endpoint - I think the bees might be buying off pollen from the Mantises who do own their own forest chamber. Hard to make a solid guess without being sure if Sophodra taking on the name of the old leader of the colony has significance here. My guess here would be that bees are primarily focued on the bioengineering industry, relying on other species to do work around them, like wasp security, mantis pest control and someone else delivering their pollen - maybe butterflies? Making other guesses doesnt give me confience scince it's our first look into this part of the setting. Kindda wondering how would Ampusa look like in his visually untranslated form. Are his eyes pink or does he have pink rings around them as well.
I hope we also get look into arachnids since Rose is second protagonist, her father is daddy long legs and one of her siblings is scorpion. Makes me wonder if this is exception or rather cultural thing
Empusa is a conehead mantis, species Empusa pennata, as detailed in Gregorsa's notes at the end. You can check out photos of them yourself on Google! I can neither confirm nor deny the rest of your speculation.
@@HumansBGone Empusa pennata seem to be striped even on their heads while your Empusa has almost all his stripes on his forelegs and a seperate abdomen pattern. The lighting on his face suggests some detail might be "paved over" in translation scince his "nose" ridges suggest the stripe pattern continuing. Some shots like 4:01 suggest the face stripes do circle his eyes and have a distinct glasses shape which would be quite a visual gag. Also Bicoris cleaning the tarse of her arms was the thing that supriced me the most scince I didnt know it was a thing. ALSO NEW THEORY: Bees like flower-mimmicking insects. The work Bicoris is refering to is essencially stripper-dancing. This would mean the mantis society depicted is something like an ethnic ghetto or an indian preserve which just gets by and works exploitable jobs without a leader to motivate improvement. Considering we know the bees were largely taken out from the economy - propably by ants - I reinforce my arguments about the biopunk dystopia.
I think what you're reading as head stripes are the decorations on the sides and the pale section on the front-- both of which he has! You're exactly right about the eye pattern ;) I... can't say anything about the rest except, not that lol.
NEEEEEERDDDDDDDD!!! If I am not mistaken, males attractiveness is based off their mental acumen and looks in this case, right? Good to know, it would be really dark. As if the mantises watching children to not eat eachother wasnt enough.
this video makes me need to here more of this insect worlds history and lore, like that aperently the mantids have two different means of being born... dont know what thats about, it almost sounds like theyre trying to piece togather theyre own history, or culture after soemthing erazed it... waiting for a new leader/mother and having some form of class systme, the regular stick/leaves mantids that are born or maybe choose to blend in... or maybe its what they choose to blend in that decides theyre rank in the sociaty.... i need more information!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the idea of a mantid culture has facinated me since the old sci fi meet the apple gates....
Let’s see 12 and 1/2 points for the regular notes(gave myself half a point for knowing about mantis/stick bugs walking but not knowing why they walk like that). And 11 points for spot the mantis. For a total of 23 & 1/2. Interesting society for their young, encouraged to recognize one another but not allowed to follow or interact. I’m going to take a guess that the bees are just as terrifying as the ants are. 🤔 Also guessing Soph learned her charms by watching Bicoris at work. 😁
8:08 I feel like hand washing and tooth brushing should also count as cleaning, bringing the number up significantly from once a day. Also how often do insects wash their entire body?
32 more points! Today was a good one. This plus the 48 from the last few videos makes 80. Also I think the eye spy game was the right amount of difficult.
Thanks for the video! Really enjoying the series, and due to how wonderful I find mantis appearances, I absolutely loved this episode! xD Though, I did notice 1-2 parts where you seem to have cut out parts of the video? Or at least the transition from one scene to another was rather jarring.
Have no idea where I'm at for my GP. Probably due for a rewatch. It ain't high, that's for sure. Curious if something more happens between Fescue and Mother Sophodra that leads her to naming herself after her. Okay, so the lady mantis' shoulder joints are definitely meant to resemble a bust sometimes, and it's not pervy me. Phew. I knew about mantis' eyes changing to black, and saw the camouflage example pretty quick. Have to say the way Gregorsa describes grafting fruit trees to be almost beautifully morbid. Still "not a plant person," I guess. Right as I was thinking "are the Notes sections always this off-putting?," I got hit with 9:00, in the dark, with volume up. Eh, sleep is overrated.
fun fact about the orchid mantis It is believed by some researchers that this camouflage and mimicry does not serve to help catch prey, but to protect from predators, It is also thought that the shape and motion of the mantis is less important than the color. Insects tend to look for vegetation matching favorable colors, regardless of shape
When seen from above, however, orchid mantis nymphs do have a shape that looks very much like an orchid (five petals formed by the abdomen and legs)! The effect is a bit ruined on adults--I took some liberties.
@@HumansBGone At first,I was weirded out that Gregor knows humans posess sapience,when sophia (the closest thing to an expert) does not.How would he get that knowledge?
Now I'm weirded out for another reason.He very explicitly talks about Bicornis & his girlfriend(?) which is knowledge he shouldn't have.How did he find out about this ONE specific moment?OUR historians aren't that precise!
A very good question ;)
Bicoris is not Empusa's girlfriend (or the closest macrovolute equivalent), however she may wish to be.
@@BrunoMaricFromZagreb I think Sophodra does or DID know that humans are sapient. In addition to not killing them outright she gets confused at one point saying that theres something she can't remember. Gregorsa seems to be telling this story in the future of the narrative after some mysterious method of communication was established, so I'm assuming he was told about moments he was not present for, which is the whole series as he hasn't appeared in the narrative thus far.
Oh don't worry, he will :)
I love how bears are just giant mouths on two legs in this world.
Like mammalian frogs!
Bicoris knows she's a baddie but she forgets that not everything is down bad for her lmao.
Hear me out…..
@gavinsiville9969no one is hearing you out
I was joking
Well, she also is propably one of the stronger members of the mantis colony with those abs. But to Ampusa she is just a meathead that looks on herself. A very intresting mix of hunk and diva you wouldnt see with humans.
@Spider-r6d except for Bicoris, maybe. She seems like she would get a rise out of knowing that even the household pests that are threatened by macrovolutes want to be with her.
"Try and catch the bear."
*Cat Mode engage!*
Also, can't get enough of young Sopha figuring herself and her world out.
Mega adorable.
Also,r/raresentence for the bear part.
That very last thing did give me an interesting thought, we tend to anthropomorphize praying mantis’ eyes for how similar they look to our own, so it only makes sense that the reverse could happen, for a praying mantis to get a similar feeling to seeing a human’s eye
To be fair they only appear similar to us as an optical illusion, the black dots are not pupils or even the fovea, they are just a trick of the light not being reflected in the eyes we are facing as an observer.
So by comparaison human eyes where the 'black hole' seems to be alway staying in the same place would likely look, pretty unerving to them, just as we get the impression they are alway watching us no matter the direction we are looking at them can be to us with their eyes. They would also feel very weird with how light reflect through our irises. (Or the fact we even have irises at all...)
@@s.m.2523 I don't know if it works in insect world but some animals have "fake pupils" to make potential predator think they are observed
Grigosa showing a visual translation of human to macrovolutes would be precius.
@@s.m.2523 Some animals use "fake pupils" to make potential predator think they're being watched. I don't know if something like that would work for insects
@@realdragon Given the compound nature of most insect eyes, I do'nt know.
Pseudopupils (that's the name of the dark spot on the mantis eyes) is not a real pupil, but as I sair earlier an optic illusions. (Basicaly insect eyes are made of many little tubes in which the light fall (each effectively an eye of it's own). When the light fall entirely in a tube from our point of cie, then they appear black. If they fall ont he side, it appears collored. That why when we look at a compostie eyes like that, there's alway a black spot that seems to move as our agnle compared to the insect does)
Weither or not it has the side effct of detering predator, I do not know.
I also like how Empusa's "pseudopupils" are done in a way that makes his compound eyes look like glasses
"Most of all I remember (tho)se eyes."
Ngl that little jumpscare actually gave me goosebumps.
Have to say, I love this series and I know practically nothing about insects, bugs, etc. so I'm always grateful for the lessons.
The way the lore drops are integrated into the story is really excellent and I'm always left with more theories about the world and what sinister secrets Gregorsa is hiding from us.
3:42 That "bud" would be the size of a full-grown tree to humans.
7:39 "1 pt if your name isn't Fescue" LOL
I'm the world's first Tall Fescue stan
You are,probably,the world's ONLY Tall Fescue fan.
@@BrunoMaricFromZagreb
I beg to differ
Why dose Empusa have such detailed eyes? I only noticed it after the fact, also all the hidden details and expressions make this 9m short endlessly rewatchable as we try to decipher its strange and fascinating lore. Well done and I'm so fascinated by this world, if you make other material explaining the lore I think that would be sought after very much. And yes the after credits info is brilliant, you put so much effort into it.
It was also adorable seeing the tiny real sized fruit tree in comparison before it mutates into the larger overgrowths, keeps the perspective, then we see those giant orcas and we realise just how crazy this world can get.
Beautiful in style, design, information and lore.
His eyes were inspired by patterns on the eyes of actual conehead mantises! Thank you for the kind feedback, I do plan to put out supplemental lore materials eventually!
The animation quality continues to impress! I adore the squash and stretch technics being used here.
I just found this series tonight and i have binged watched everything avaliable, and will be digging into patreon soon.
and i can't help but theorize.
But after having seen everything available twice, the reluctant words of our narrator, the first words he said of him teaching about humans, and now is teaching *to* humans. The "transistor" stolen being an organ for a device that plays pheromone music, and what pieced together words after credits. "The least i could do" and exaggerated gratitude.
The humans are looking for ways to communicate! Or, perhaps atleast, to understand, macrovolutes.
Thats why they stole the "transistor" which apparently contains the specific chemicals their looking for. I mean, afterall Gregor immediately transitions into talking about humans brains allow communication, and how pheromone communication functions
Gregor is telling a story, not just of of "Human-B-Gone" but of how humans fought to be acknowledged in this space. Of how macrovolutes viewed humanity and dealt with them, is trying his best to make for what i can only assume to be a coming war, or inflicted genocide, that were brought on by the actions taken here.
Commander, Lt, the humans shown are a military working from "havens" mentioned, and thus thats why i'd framed it as preparing to understand an enemy, rather than seeking communication, at this stage, atleast.
Everything im seeing points to a belief of a tragedy, and that this story is somehow deeply interwined with something significant to lead into it, or overcome the basis of it.
Actually I played that idea of them trying to communicate a little while ago, and I agree. Because it played chemical/pheromone music, it could be connected to one of those gas tube things where it separates gas depending on its speed. If maybe there were two of those, (I’m no expert at all in molecular physics) one to divide pheromones, one to divide the order of speaking, and some sort of trained artificial intelligence taught around the chemical analysis of pheromones, could possibly be used to communicate to the insects.
Ooh, this episode left me with a sense of foreboding...in case you're wondering about why Dulsin's being talked about in the past tense...and you follow Rev's commentary as they've worked, you know that in the present of Humans-B-Gone, *there are no bees anymore*.
What happened to them? Was it a parasite infestation, a wasp/hornet invasion?
@@jacobcox4565 The ants.
@@zoushaomenohu Makes sense.
@@jacobcox4565 I don't know much about wasps, but I've seen video where one guy had wasp nest next to bees so the wasps can protect bees. Wasps had no interest in bees but it might depend on species
I also wonder about what exactly Gregorsa...... did to himself, that we only see him in the void, and he's translating.... having rewatched everything earlier, it sounded like it was a one way trip.
What comes to mind is those cybug experiments-- roach brains that were grafted to robots, and were able to control them enough to hunt for food like normal.
While cleaning frequently is necessary and seen as custom among arthropods, I'm fairly certain that Bicoris' cleaning routine would be considered... excessive... even by their standards. An analogue to posh personalities tendency to groom and trim to unnecessary levels, her immense pride in her fitness (the term fitness being defined here as fittest to survive and multiply) taking a greater precedent to her than others is likely. Of course, appearance is the closest analogue to us, but appearance is less of a priority among most macrovolutes, with mantids and jumping spiders being somewhat of an exception; function rather than form is generally more attractive to macros.
Seems like you've refined your animation, seems much more smooth like as a whole.
It's very interesting to see Sophodra being so basic in her speech, makes it all the more impressive how chatty she is later on and how more educationally adept she is, as well as adopting the impatience of the teacher around bozos, going to assume she takes the name in honour of The Mother for one reason or another.
Lot's of things going on in this one: Our first hint of the Bees before they were (presumably) taken out by the ants, a look at how Nymphs develop, the Mother whom Sophodra has named herself after (but why?).
A neat little detail is the note of Gregorsa's unfamiliarity with visual puzzles.
And then of course "those Eyes" at the very end... With a notably unfacceted eye...
"That's how _they_ do it.."
The bitter snideness, does scream "ants" to me.
@@hellacoorinna9995 I suspect it could be the bees as well as the Empussa and Bicoris conversation make it very clear the mantises are working for the bees in this flashback ("At least we can coiunt on the others for the work the bees give us", "the bees alway want more do they") And there's what seems to be a few hints that the ant taking out the bees may have destroyed the entire pods the bees were in.
Generaly the more social insect macrovolute do seem to have a tendency to subordinate and infeodate the other ones
@
Good point.
To put the shield mantis as some sort of birthing nurse. Perfection❤
Empusa is the nurse! She just picks up nymphs that she finds and takes them home.
@@HumansBGone so, kidnapping fused with adoption?
Absolutely love this series! Having your citations at the end is just genius and the way you naturally work all of the IRL science into your story is just top-tier worldbuilding.
52 points and we found all of the mantises in the i spy scene :) that was a fun little game
seeing baby soph move gave us feels too because the way she tapped her legs around really reminded us of our own pet mantis that sadly did not live to adulthood. loved the personality in the new characters, too, this show's got such a fun cast
I'm sorry about your mantis :( I'm sure the life they had with you was a happy one, though!
I really like how you used the Shield Mantis' back things to give Mother Sophodra almost a nun like appearance.
this is the coolest thing ive ever seen
Okay, I admit it, 9:00 got me.
Great episode! The Mantis Nest is friggin' beautiful. Sure hope nothing happens (or has happened, rather) to it. :)
(Think my score was in the high 30s this time? I wasn't sure if I should count some of them and kinda lost count)
Young Soph is just the most precious thing (30 points!)
The work that goes into researching and making of this videos is criminally underrated
baby sophie is actually precious oh my god. amazing work as always, absolutely adoring this series so far!!
I love how many mantis characters they were in this episode.
It's so incredibly weird to see Sophodra in a state where she's so… simplistic. I mean, I know she's a child here, but seeing her present self, then seeing her past self, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to think they're literally different people.
I was SOOO excited for this episode to come out and I wasn't disappointed! The staging was fantastic, nymph soph was adorable and cheeky and the three new mantid's look so good in motion! I think Mother Sophodra ended up being my favourite even if she's not as colourful as Empusa and Bicoris. She really gives a tired mother superior vibe with that big shield looking like a nuns habit in the art style.
And I have sooooo many theories and I think my current theory about What Gregosa now is might be spot on,[i saw that fungal network!] and that jumpscare!!! I was not expecting that, especially a very /human/ eye but it really adds a layer to the underlying horror in the story. I'm also thinking very intently about the mention of grafting apple trees which goes into my Soph is a clone but also not a clone theory.
Really looking forward to seeing more of the story unfold!
Wow, another comment from me…!
- I find it intriguing how mantises - in their nymph stages - are taught not to stick together (from how I could easily interpret it).
- I dunno why I wasn’t expecting Bicoris to be so large compared to Empusa, I mean, being large is a vital part when you’re a female bug (most of the time).
- Gregorsa has never physically went to Dulsin, but he says its just as he remembers it… o_0
- I forgot what a generation pod was tbh
- Bicoris grooming herself jumpscared me lmao. I always found mantises cleaning themselves to be quite goofy
- The bees are no longer in Dulsin, is that right?
- Why did Empusa say that “we’re waiting on a *real mother* “ ???
- “Make sure we’re not missing any heads” lmao 💀🙏
- Okay, lastly, I didn’t get much points (bummer), but can we talk about THE EYE? 👁️ “Most of all I remember these/those eyes” Whose eyes? It can’t be Commander Vera, can it?
Feel free to correct me for this is a rant comment
Sadly, I don't think I can answer some of these questions--you'll just have to wait and see!
I can say that the generation pod is what we saw Sophodra tumble out of last episode, and that macrovolute bees are no longer anywhere.
And you're right on the money with the mantis nymphs!
@ Huzzah! 🔥🔥🔥🎉
This episode was so good!! I used to keep mantises. I love the way you’ve translated their behavior into how’d they’d act as macrovolutes-especially how they’re all kinda snippy with each other because they’re solitary lol. I’m biased, but I think they’ve got the most personality when it comes to insects.
wonderful catching this before bed
YESSS I was JUST looking for something to watch while I hang out with my mantis!!
This was very enjoyable and interesting, not to mention adorable with all those lil triangle faced babies. And also answered a question I had, which was why my mantis’s eyes are going dark at odd times today- it’s because I accidentally screwed her sleep schedule up… sorry Little Mantis. (I had to bring her with me on a trip, so there was a lot of stuff going on that probably confused her, but I’ll make sure she is getting back to a regular sleep schedule again.)
She is doing great though. She even caught a stinkbug without me helping her at all, it was quite a surprise to come back to see her munching on it. And yesterday she got to do one of her favorite activities, which is to sit on my hand and lower herself down so her body is almost touching me (which I call pancake mode) and then force me to awkwardly sit there unable to use that arm for hours until she decides pancake mode is over or I have to move her. She’s just like a cat. (I believe her going into pancake mode is related to seeking warmth. She only does it when she is standing directly on me or in sunlight, and just sits there looking all comfy. She’ll un-pancake herself if there’s food, of course.)
Your baby sounds precious! Be careful letting them eat wild-caught, however, as you never know when an insect might have been subjected to pesticides or disease.
@@HumansBGone She is precious!!! And yes, I know the dangers. Her and her brother (who sadly died of old age recently…) have actually been raised on wild-caught bugs, and they themselves were wild caught as teeny babies, since they’re invasive species and I wanted pet mantises. We do not use pesticides and I make sure to only choose bugs who seem healthy for them to eat, plus I watch to make sure they don’t injure my mantises or have horsehair worms. It has worked well so far, especially because most of the bugs I get for them are houseflies or ants, both of whom usually have lived most of their life in the house. Her big brother did have some issues (namely, occasionally vomiting stuff that smelled like ladybug stink) towards the end due to his diet being entirely stinkbugs and ladybugs, but that was literally all I could get him to eat- I am legitimately impressed with how bad at spotting food he was. It got worse in his old age but throughout his life he would very often not notice flies when they were running around directly in front of his face, and sometimes even if they touched him. He was always eager to eat me and sometimes water droplets, but rarely actual bugs. He also took a bite out of an aloe plant once…
Meanwhile his sister somehow can catch millimeter-long gnats even as an adult- very different levels of hunting capabilities. Funnily enough she is the one who has been in captivity longer, I caught her at probably 1st instar and raised her since, so she’s incredibly friendly, while I caught her brother at probably at least 3rd instar (hence me naming him Big Mantis and her Little Mantis). He was never as friendly and was eager to fly away from me once he got his wings, but I’m shocked he was able to make it past first instar with his complete lack of hunting skills. It made him incredibly stressful to raise since he barely was able to get anything to eat, but he somehow made it to adulthood and old age, and I love him despite his overwhelming stupidity (I have made many jokes about his pseudopupil actually being his singular braincell, permanently offline).
I didn’t even know where I could get feeder bugs for a while, because I wasn’t super prepared for the mantises when they appeared tbh. I actually didn’t realize they needed water for a little while… I’m used to raising caterpillars, who get water mostly from their food and who will very quickly get sick and die or just straight up drown because they’re short if there is significant water in their enclosure. So I kind of forgot that mantises might not be the same until I saw Big Mantis drinking off a freshly washed oak leaf that I had set him down on while trying to find food for him and realized my mistake. Luckily I do think that their food was providing enough moisture, and I did let them roam around in the sink when there were ants or flies in there so they probably got some water while in their (hopefully not from the dirty dishrags). I’m sure they were happy when they finally made me realize they needed more water than that though.
Little Mantis also hilariously will be entirely unperturbed by my sticking my finger in her face when there’s water on it, she will just go ‘oh yeah! I’m thirsty! I’ll take this random water that just poked me in the face. This is totally normal.’ It’s very cute and a good way to make sure she’s hydrated if she doesn’t realize there’s water elsewhere for her. She will politely whack my finger with her folded claws when she’s done drinking the water as well, so I know to stop sticking water in her face.
Oh also, her eyes are now going dark/light at the proper times again, so her sleep schedule is fixed :D
Also worth noting that my local pet store treats its insects so horribly I doubt they’re much healthier than most wild bugs that have made it to adulthood… most of them are at least injured and the crickets are very bad at living even when they are in perfectly fine conditions, the way some darken drastically after they die worries me especially because it looks like sickness, and one of the hornworms I bought in order to raise it died of sickness and looked to have either had mites or tiny black scars all over it’s belly, not to mention the layer of mold and wet poop coating its former enclosure and food and the decomposing corpse of an even less fortunate hornworm also next to the food… at least when feeding wild bugs to my mantises I know they haven’t been trapped in such horrific environments for potentially months. And I generally don’t want to support the store any more due to the (easily preventable) horrible conditions.
This feels like if its from a different timeline, where that radical 90s cg vibe never went away, it just mutated and settled into something quite comfortable
so cool watching the mantis eyes change color when it becomes night!! it makes me miss my girls a ton, even if every mantis ive kept seemed to gravitate towards biting my fingers at every chance they got
The amount of actuall real life information used in all of their movement and actions is so outrageously great its always such fun to see new episode. You just can't watch it only one time, so many stuff changes with notes. Amazing work, love how they all move, must take tons of work to make it so realistic, I love all the details, that they use antenas for lots of things instead of claws, the wobbly movement, that young mantises have that curly abdomen, not anthropomorsing them too much makes its so amazingly interesting and alien. And seems like I remembered it wrongly, I though they smell organ is the base of abdomen, but in fact its hearing one.
RAHHH LOOK AT THE ANIMATION NOW RAHHH I LOVE IT RAHHHHHHHHH I LOVE THIS WEBSHOW
Baby Soph is so cute
empusa is quickly becoming another favorite of mine,,
SAME 👁️👁️
Another incredible episode! I love how expressive Bicoris’ animation is
The quality increases with each episode. I’m glad you can realize this project :3
PEAK comedy:
7:40
Also the jumpscare at the end made me jump and may or may not fuel my fear of the dark
The way you design the mother of the mantis reminds me of a Nun leading the refugees of elven race😂
I have compared them to elves before in my head!
@HumansBGone Good work on the mother. She looks and sounds like a well...mother Nun. And the rest of the mantis behave like other nuns and priest too.
@@HumansBGone By the way I forgotten what is the is Plant technology they are using called? Is something like techno-organic (combination of Flesh/Blood and Metal)?
ooh, this episode raises so many interesting questions i can't WAIT to be answered!!
great work on this rev!!!
This series is absolutely amazing, I love this type of series without all this modern problems
I'm happy that I've came across your channel)
One of the best looking episodes so far! Love this series
Baby Sophodra?
Oh my god, she's so fucking cute holy shit.
Absoloute cinema. I am a great fan of your works!
Question. Will you deep more into insects culture? For example are mantises still do cannibalism? İf they do how other insects view this?
I think, regarding cannibalism, it's probably the main reason why Empusa told the nymphs to not follow each other
I will expand on the question: what do they eat? In our world mantises hunt and eat other insects but in macrovulate world I doubt ants would stand for that
I won't touch on cannibalism for now, but modern macrovolutes generally eat non-sapient arthropods like isopods or flying water fleas.
The writing for Gregorsa's notes got even better in this episode. Love that instead of the ususal "[1][2][3]..." harmless biology facts suddenly interrupted by weird and uncanny "[∞]" cryptic lore hints we now have notes that appear normal at first but slowly and subtly turn creepy with their extremely specific wording and framing, as well as some additional context, from the text about how "children" in old growth forests spring up from the stump of their fallen "elders" to the whole 3rd paragraph of the fruit tree note.
[POST-CREDITS SPOILERS]
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V
And all of that still didn't prepare me for WHAT HAPPENED AT ruclips.net/video/sqURZNehqh4/видео.html.
I knew the post-credits notes were eventually going to turn into full-on analogue horror, but I wasn't expecting it to happen this quickly.
Thank you for blessing us with another amazing animation
Awww, she's so adorable! Like always, this was well worth the wait!
Bicoris is stunning
I just love watching nymph Sophodra or rather Fescue trying to navigate her environment. Though I am curious, why is it that Empusa, Mother Sophodra, and Bicorus seem to be the only active mantises?
I don't know what this is about and found this in my recomendation...but i like it?
41 points! (I think, I may have miscalculated oops)
After learning about what an Empusa is I feel it would be more fitting for the orchid mantis…
great episode!! love all the character expressions :oD
WAKE UP BUG GANG NEW HUMANS B GONE JUST DROPPED
Really neat stuff going on here! Love the characters too, I'm excited to see more of them. Footnote 7 has strange wording, and it seems to relate heavily to footnote infinity from the previous episode, hm... The eyes part was really interesting, imagine a being with thousands of eyes, thinking about the perspective of one that has only two. It'd basically be like being blind! Also, I imagine the whole "eyes that can move" thing would be pretty off-putting for them. I've also been seeing some comments here saying that this whole place and the bees don't exists anymore. I'm excited to see what that's about. GIB MOAR.
4:19 I’m fuckin cooked chat
Been really excited for this episode to come out!
cool eye jumpscare boss...what could it mean
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
THIS WAS SO WORTH THE WAIT!!
Love the personality on Bicoris and Empusa. The mantis home is spoken of in past tense...and the stinger! Does someone have memories of a time before macrovolutes?
this show is so awesome! I love how it’s not only amazing to watch, but I get to learn so much as well! I always wondered about the eye darkening thing because I ahve found a few mantis (mantises? Manti?) in the wild of the same species with varying eye shades and was unsure of the reason. That’s so cool!
*Raises Hand* Prof Gregorsa; I would like to point out that mamalian humanoids do groom more than but once a day; while they only bathe their full body once or perhapse twice a day hands are cleaned more religeously. The oral cavity also recives such attention, as well as 'blowing the nose' to clear mucousa and detritus from the nasal olfactory organs.
Another consideration for mamalians is that their bodies need that oily coating, without an exoskeleton they are susceptable to trying out, then their epidermis cracks and that can lead to infections. It's almost remarkable how self-maintaining the claid of mamalia is... _They don't even have to preen themselves._
Cockroaches also secrete an oily coating-- except theirs has antifungal and antibacterial properties ;)
@@HumansBGone To a degree Sebum is also inhospitable to a number of dangerous microbes; however it is also food for less dangerous by _very stinky microbes._
Gubs just get a bad rap because they are small and stinky.
Humans b gone is real
Beautiful episode- I loved seeing all the new models! I remember what difficulties Bicoris's eyes gave you. It's nice to see you got the model working!
43
27! I'm rather pleased with that. :)
My sympathies to anyone called Fescue.
I love that every time I come back to this channel it has more and more likes/vides ❤
42 pts to start the semester, tho I may have been overly strict in my grading.
[11] I was surprised to learn that orchid mantises only appear white to humans & other creatures that lack ultraviolet color-vision. I knew many flowers used ultraviolet coloration to help attract pollinators and I knew that orchid mantises where more alluring than the orchids themselves. So I assumed orchids had UV pigments & also assumed that orchid mantises just cranked up the UV coloration to be extra attractive. It makes me wonder more about how they appear more beautiful than the flowers...It also reminds me that prior knowledge can lead to incorrect assumptions.
I wonder how we know mantises are prettier than flower in the first place. How do you even conduct experiment like that
@@realdragon The paper "Pollinator Deception in the Orchid Mantis" by O'Hanlon, Howell, & Herberstein is the source. Apparently they found that "isolated" orchid mantises were able to attract pollinators better than the flowers themselves. Admittedly, I have not read the paper myself so I'm not sure exactly what they mean by "isolated", whether it just means the mantis wasn't resting on an orchid or was no where near any orchids. The abstract mentions how these were field experiments, but, as I've not read the paper proper, I'm not sure what the procedures for the experiment were.
In fact, they lack UV coloration in the white portions to make brilliant UV patterns on them stand out all the more! (Flowers in general often have hidden UV patterns to guide insects to the nectar. )
Fifty six points- not too bad.
Quite a delight seeing details into another swarm, and a fascinating view of the past
Always happy to see a new episode, I can't wait for more, especially when it contains backstory!
2:22 the "thats the way they do it" comment is interesting - I wonder if getting to choose your name as an adult is something that comes from the bees, who as holometabolous insects mature a lot more dratically later in their lives, and might not have the ability to talk (or choose) as larvae
I expected more wider world lore but what we got is a mantis cultural deep-dive. But the spotlight on mantis sences does make more sence with Sophodra as a main protagonist of the series: good eyesight, a primary vision focus, a good individualistic-collectivist balance and gender dynamics with a lot of personality. The males getting consumed after mating is a question but it might still be the case if they are a deadbeat or times are tough. Also funny how a big chunk of macrovolute dictonary seems to be instinctual and encoded scince some basic concepts would have natural chemical smells linked to them scince day one of a hatchling cappable of locomotion.
However, there are some drops that are very intresting. The bees. This is definitive proof swarm insects run the economy and thus society of the Macrovolutes, making it a biopunk dystopia for specialised insects with smaller populations. The Mantises here are in a pickle with bees seemingly being sole jobgivers in this section of the planet. Ampusa putting future Sophodra before a bear to catch it might suggest the Mantises are specialised in gub hunting which would make sence with their good perception, stealthy nature and focused minds. But "the bees always want more"? Also bears as pest. The gub hunting might be a red herring since we know Sophodra's endpoint - I think the bees might be buying off pollen from the Mantises who do own their own forest chamber. Hard to make a solid guess without being sure if Sophodra taking on the name of the old leader of the colony has significance here. My guess here would be that bees are primarily focued on the bioengineering industry, relying on other species to do work around them, like wasp security, mantis pest control and someone else delivering their pollen - maybe butterflies? Making other guesses doesnt give me confience scince it's our first look into this part of the setting.
Kindda wondering how would Ampusa look like in his visually untranslated form. Are his eyes pink or does he have pink rings around them as well.
I hope we also get look into arachnids since Rose is second protagonist, her father is daddy long legs and one of her siblings is scorpion. Makes me wonder if this is exception or rather cultural thing
Empusa is a conehead mantis, species Empusa pennata, as detailed in Gregorsa's notes at the end. You can check out photos of them yourself on Google! I can neither confirm nor deny the rest of your speculation.
@@HumansBGone Empusa pennata seem to be striped even on their heads while your Empusa has almost all his stripes on his forelegs and a seperate abdomen pattern. The lighting on his face suggests some detail might be "paved over" in translation scince his "nose" ridges suggest the stripe pattern continuing. Some shots like 4:01 suggest the face stripes do circle his eyes and have a distinct glasses shape which would be quite a visual gag.
Also Bicoris cleaning the tarse of her arms was the thing that supriced me the most scince I didnt know it was a thing. ALSO NEW THEORY: Bees like flower-mimmicking insects. The work Bicoris is refering to is essencially stripper-dancing. This would mean the mantis society depicted is something like an ethnic ghetto or an indian preserve which just gets by and works exploitable jobs without a leader to motivate improvement. Considering we know the bees were largely taken out from the economy - propably by ants - I reinforce my arguments about the biopunk dystopia.
I think what you're reading as head stripes are the decorations on the sides and the pale section on the front-- both of which he has! You're exactly right about the eye pattern ;) I... can't say anything about the rest except, not that lol.
NEEEEEERDDDDDDDD!!! If I am not mistaken, males attractiveness is based off their mental acumen and looks in this case, right?
Good to know, it would be really dark. As if the mantises watching children to not eat eachother wasnt enough.
YIPPIE EPISODE 10 HAS RELEASED! LOVE YOUR WORK HUMANS B GONE!
this video makes me need to here more of this insect worlds history and lore, like that aperently the mantids have two different means of being born... dont know what thats about, it almost sounds like theyre trying to piece togather theyre own history, or culture after soemthing erazed it... waiting for a new leader/mother and having some form of class systme, the regular stick/leaves mantids that are born or maybe choose to blend in... or maybe its what they choose to blend in that decides theyre rank in the sociaty.... i need more information!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the idea of a mantid culture has facinated me since the old sci fi meet the apple gates....
Let’s see 12 and 1/2 points for the regular notes(gave myself half a point for knowing about mantis/stick bugs walking but not knowing why they walk like that).
And 11 points for spot the mantis.
For a total of 23 & 1/2.
Interesting society for their young, encouraged to recognize one another but not allowed to follow or interact.
I’m going to take a guess that the bees are just as terrifying as the ants are. 🤔
Also guessing Soph learned her charms by watching Bicoris at work. 😁
PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK PEAK
What a gift for new year
2:38 I don't know why I found this part so funny
I loved the little irritated pose they did, only possible with a mantis's body
She already recognizes basic colors and shapes. Impressive compared to some newborns.
Those apple facts were very interesting. I think I'll look into it some other time.
Loved to see more once again
8:08 I feel like hand washing and tooth brushing should also count as cleaning, bringing the number up significantly from once a day. Also how often do insects wash their entire body?
They pretty much do it any time they aren't doing anything else
GRAH THE BACKGORUNDS ARE SO PREEETTTYYYYYYY
I can't take the credit for that! They were painted by @sinclairedelune on Instagram: instagram.com/sinclairedelune
Yay new episode!
This series would make for a good arg
Smol.
Cute.
Must pat.
😢
Sky Tree MOSSSS!!!!!!!
Mosss Rave Music!
actually, in motion, finding all 10 is possible!
14 points for me, yay
empusa is a shape shifting female from mythology :O also the name of this species of mantis that empusa is
I love Empusa sm he’s a goober
I lived on Fescue Circle, growing up
32 more points! Today was a good one. This plus the 48 from the last few videos makes 80. Also I think the eye spy game was the right amount of difficult.
Thanks for the video! Really enjoying the series, and due to how wonderful I find mantis appearances, I absolutely loved this episode! xD
Though, I did notice 1-2 parts where you seem to have cut out parts of the video? Or at least the transition from one scene to another was rather jarring.
Just bad directing on my part, I'm afraid
Have no idea where I'm at for my GP. Probably due for a rewatch. It ain't high, that's for sure.
Curious if something more happens between Fescue and Mother Sophodra that leads her to naming herself after her.
Okay, so the lady mantis' shoulder joints are definitely meant to resemble a bust sometimes, and it's not pervy me. Phew.
I knew about mantis' eyes changing to black, and saw the camouflage example pretty quick. Have to say the way Gregorsa describes grafting fruit trees to be almost beautifully morbid. Still "not a plant person," I guess.
Right as I was thinking "are the Notes sections always this off-putting?," I got hit with 9:00, in the dark, with volume up. Eh, sleep is overrated.
Very pretty!
I didn’t expect to see Mantis Racism on my bingo card
It's not really racism, so much as everybody-who-isn't-meism. (Which the non-flower mantises also have.)
so cool
Nice