What is that giant, fire-emitting bug in downtown Las Vegas?
An artistic installation in downtown Las Vegas frequently turns visitors’ heads — thanks to its massive, metal one.
The Mantis, as it’s known, is 40 feet tall and 30 feet wide, according to the Downtown Container Park’s website. It can throw fire flames reaching six stories high — with a burst of heat and sound so large it can shock some passersby.
Kirk Jellum, an aerospace engineer, made it with his wife Kristen Ulmer for a wedding anniversary gift in 2010. The Mad Max-like creature is a 150:1 scale model of a female praying mantis.
Jellum and the team of 20 spent 500 hours on design work and 3,000 hours on construction, according to the mall’s website.
The pair mounted it on a truck chassis and took the art car to Burning Man, the art festival held in the Black Rock Desert of Northern Nevada.
Former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh bought the installation to put at the container park mall as part of his vision for downtown Las Vegas.
“I never imagined that we would sell the mantis,” Kristen Ulmer said in a 2012 news report in Salt Lake City. “I mean, who knew there was a market for such things?”
The fire-emitting performances occur nightly beginning at sundown. A “drum circle celebration” awakens the Mantis. The show consists of the female praying mantis shooting fire from her antennae and moving her legs at seemingly random times. It can be seen until 11 p.m. on weekdays and 1 a.m. on weekends at the Downtown Container Park, at the corner of 7th and Fremont streets.
Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.