Yesterday afternoon I was looking out the living room window at the beautiful display of red Bird of Paradise, when I noticed an odd green pod hanging from one of the blossoms. A hummingbird flew to the blossom, then took off almost immediately when the pod tried to grab it. I ran outside and saw a huge praying mantis waiting for the hummer to come back. I grabbed it and threw it as hard as I could. Don’t know if I killed it. I didn’t think to photograph it first, but here’s a picture of one of the blossoms:
Mexican Bird of Paradise
This morning the lone bud on my beautiful trichocereus opened, just until the sun was overhead. So beautiful. The second time this season it’s bloomed.
Trichocereus
Yikes. Who knew praying was such a violent sport.
ReplyDeleteWell, it all depends on your place of worship.
ReplyDeleteI have "raised" praying mantids for years and, honestly, their mouth parts would not get through the first row of feathers. I find them to be amazing and personable insects that do munch on a lot of garden pests. I hope she (my big ones were usually females) survived.
ReplyDeleteJo--Google "predation of hummingbirds by mantis." There are hundreds, maybe thousands of entries. This is a well known phenomenon in the hummingbird world. The photos you will see are stomach-churning. Most often, mantises wait on hummmingbird feeders, but can also hunt on plants, which this one was doing. I don't like to kill any critter, but I won't cry if she didn't make it.
ReplyDeleteKathryn, my profound apologies. I deleted my FB comment after the Google research. One source did say that the HB die quickly because they go into shock somewhat easily. To make up for my arrogance (you taught me a useful lesson: pause & ponder before commenting -- FB and real life), here are a couple of delightful HB videos:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjRk1oPCWOw
Snoring HB
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8twCvJJtT0A
Chris makes a friend
I've taught many that life's basic rule is "Eat or get eaten", and this predation bears witness. Hummingbirds are amazing creatures, but I still love the mantids. One of my family photos is 4-yr-old Tali holding our first mantid. Still friends?
Jo, thank you for your very gracious note. I never thought you were arrogant; just misinformed, and in good company, because mantid predation of hummers is not well known at all. I didn't believe it the first time I heard it either. I do think that mantids are very beautiful. I used to watch them up close on my glass patio door at night, getting a good look at their fascinating bodies and jewel-like red eyes.
DeleteWas the mantis wearing a bib? That's usually a giveaway.
ReplyDeleteA dinner jacket.
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ReplyDeleteI love that tricho. My prairie is responding to the rain in an amazing way, starting over like it was spring. I have spent hours weeding out the bad guys. S
ReplyDeleteWe love it too, but I'd love it even more if it didn't disappear after a few hours. Still, it was a very good buy. And we had a good guide to which tricho to get. :-)
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