Hobo Jungle

[webenda]

This hummingbird might think the praying mantis is a green stick.

[webenda]

In the Hobo Jungle mantises eat humming birds.

Photo credit: Tom Vaughan/FeVa Fotos

[RBH29]

I saw my second praying mantis of the year yesterday. I've seen them rip off a grasshopper's head but how can they possibly kill and eat a hummingbird? Did you take those incredible photos, Wayne? I'd like to know how you did it.
Richard

[webenda]

Did you take those incredible photos, Wayne? I'd like to know how you did it.
Richard

I took the butterfly-hummingbird photo posted in the Hobo Jungle.

Here is part of the series of photos taken of the butterfly-hummingbird action.


The camera was hand-held for all pictures. The images would have been sharper if I had used a tripod but the photo opportunity would have been gone by the time I set up a tripod.

Photographer: Wayne Benda
Camera: Panasonic DC-G9
Date: July 17 2023
Time: 2:01 PM
Location: My front yard
Shutter: 1/120 sec.
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal length: 270 mm
ISO: 500

[webenda]

Did you take those incredible photos, Wayne?
Richard

The photo with the Praying Mantis...


The photographer was Bill Cates. Bill's hummingbird feeder is on his deck. He used his cell phone to take the picture on September 17, 2023, at 8:00 AM. Bill lives 8 miles west of me.

[webenda]

Did you take those incredible photos,
Richard

The bird-eating mantis photo...

Photo credit: Tom Vaughan/FeVa Fotos

I do not believe native praying mantises eat hummingbirds. The mantis in the photo is an imported species called the Chinese mantis.

Carolina Mantis is 2-2.5 inches
Ruby-throated hummingbird 3 – 3.5 in.
Chinese Mantis 4.3 in

The Chinese mantid is a common non-native species that is considered by some to be an exotic, invasive species. It has been sold commercially for decades for pest management, but appears to have little value in this regard.

Chinese Mantid | NC State Extension
North Carolina State University
https://entomology.ces.ncsu.edu/search- ... ese+Mantid
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/ar ... ive-video/

[webenda]

The Red Spotted Purple butterfly in the Hobo Jungle.

[sleepmac]

Wayne, awesome!

Dan Weinhold

[up148]

Great photos Wayne. I've seen a mantis grab a hummingbird in a nature program, but that was in a SA jungle, to see it here is amazing. Mantises are fearless hunters.

[RBH29]

Thanks Wayne for the detailed explanation. I still find it incredible that a praying mantis can prey on a hummingbird. It seems that the bird would be too big for the mantis to get a good grip on.

[RBH29]

So, a quick look in YouTube show quite a few videos of mantises attacking hummingbirds, other small birds, snakes, lizards and small rodents. Who knew? Wayne, thanks again for introducing this fascinating subject.

[gregj410]

So, a quick look in YouTube show quite a few videos of mantises attacking hummingbirds, other small birds, snakes, lizards and small rodents. Who knew? Wayne, thanks again for introducing this fascinating subject.

Those things are pretty savage. I witnessed one dissolving a large grass hopper head first. It would secrete some sort of fluid from its mouth to break it down rather quickly. Mother Nature is brutal, horrible way to die.

[E7]

The female mantis eats the males head after mating. If I ever see a mantis praying on a hummingbird, there will be a dead mantis. Hummingbirds are endangered. I realize that mantises kill a lot of insects, but it's an easy choice.

[RBH29]

I tried to pick up the mantis I saw on Saturday. Good thing I didn't; I could have lost a finger! Actually, probably not because I used to pick them up as a kid. I had one in a clear plastic box that I put some grasshoppers in to keep it company. After witnessing the resulting horrifying carnage I soon released it back into the wild.

[Tramp]

How do I post a photo of our tree?