Some kind of Mantis?

[marty bradbury]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

They have an, ummm... "interesting" mating process. The climax of the business is that the female reaches around and rips the male's head off.

Brutal, that.

Bob

So that's what my ex was trying to do. Interesting...

[fretfile100]

Big fan of the praying mantis. Last time I saw one was in L.A. about 9 years ago . He or she climbed up on my shoulder and was content looking at me. We were on the way to a concert so I tried to find a place where s/he would have best chance of survival. I miss seeing this fascinating species; they are more fun than the bark scorpions we have in abundance in Fl.

[brad4d8]

Very beneficial for gardens as they eat a lot of pests. Some garden centers even cell praying mantis egg cases for use in gardens.
As to hummingbirds. apparently larger mantises have been know to catch and eat small hummingbirds!

[redcrow]

They're cute and all, but they can catch and kill hummingbirds. I'm a big fan of hummingbirds, so any mantis hanging about my backyard is firmly but politely escorted off the premises.

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by redcrow

They're cute and all, but they can catch and kill hummingbirds. I'm a big fan of hummingbirds, so any mantis hanging about my backyard is firmly but politely escorted off the premises.

That'd have to be one big mantis! I saw one today, it was about the size of my index finger. Hardly a hazard to hummingbirds.

[redcrow]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

That'd have to be one big mantis! I saw one today, it was about the size of my index finger. Hardly a hazard to hummingbirds.

When we lived in Chico, CA, I saw one no bigger than two inches long, probably less, try to take down a beautiful Rufus hummer that'd come to our feeder. I said "try" because I got involved. ****ed thing would not let go of the thoroughly panicked bird until I got it's head between my and finger nail. The bird was a bit ruffled and stayed perched in our Trumpet vine for a long while before taking off, apparently no worse for the experience.

About a week later, I found a larger mantis clinging to the wire that the feeder was hung on. When an Allen's hummer did a fly by, the insect waved it's arms aggressively as it passed. I got that one corralled in a paper bag and released it unharmed a few door down from my place.

Check this out https://blogs.scientificamerican.com...s-alive-video/

This was about 25 years ago and I haven't seen any other instances of mantis/hummer hostility since. The mantises here in OR seem to be better behaved.

[srick]

There's a great app for your phone called "Seek." It's a species identifier., covers both flora and fauna. And it is truly free.

It will work both from your camera and a photographs.

https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app

Rick

[815C]

I took the photo on the right a few years ago south of Nashville.... The deadly
mantis is real!!!

[tinnitus]

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