[nickcarraway]

Well neat! Just got an email from a professor in Switzerland who wants to use one of my photographs as an illustration in a paper to be published in the "Wilson Journal of Ornithology!" Dr. Martin Nyffeler's paper, coauthored with two U.S. professors, is titled "Bird Predation by Praying Mantises: A Global Perspective." It appears that the lovely little hummingbirds that have just recently returned to our feeder are primary targets for those little insects: "Most reports (.70% of observed incidents) are from the USA, where mantids have often been seen capturing hummingbirds attracted to food sources in gardens, i.e., hummingbird feeders or hummingbird-pollinated plants. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) was the species most frequently reported to be captured by mantids>" I call this "You're next!"

[originalbuckeye]

I saw an absolutely creepy Criminal Minds episode where the Unsub was killing and eating people, acting like a praying mantis. I cannot think about praying mantises without thinking about that episode.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Ruby Throated makes sense, they are more common in areas with good mantis populations. Here in New Mexico, the most common hummers are Black Chinned, Broad Tailed, and Rufous with the occasional Anna’s and Calliope thrown in. However, I cannot recall the last time I saw a mantis here in the East Mountains (Manzanos and Sandias east of Albuquerque) Possibly too dry, or the lizards make short work of them.

[xp38]

Nature can be cruel.

[Magnatron]

The human version of the same:

[fso301]

Pretty cool.

[boomop1]

I have beheaded a few standing on my bird feeder

[RckyRaCoCo]

“I’ve got a mantis in my pantis!”

[Seruzawa]

They are insects. They’ll kill and eat anything they are capable of killing. They can’t be reasoned with. They can’t be bargained with. And they absolutely WILL NOT STOP until you are dead!

[Rusty0604]

This is your photograph they are talking about in the article?

[Bratch]

They used to be bigger.

[CJ Wolf]

[georgiegirl]

I have seen this with my own eyes a few years ago right in my garden—unfortunately, before I had a digital camera.

[Vendome]

Bruce Lee would beat his azz...

[Mean Daddy]

One day I saw a hummer hanging upside down off a branch. Went out to check and a praying mantis had it upside down. My feeders were hanging off of wood planks and had them hanging off the feeders like the photos. Got rid of the wood planks and haven’t had a problem since.

[FreedomStar3028]

I used to catch these all the time in Oregon.

I haven’t actually seen one in years.

Was wondering if they died off in the area. I used to see them all the time.