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Re: Mantises and Hummers




There are several reports of mantids in this country taking hummingbirds. What muddies the picture is that, to the best of my knowledge, all these predations have involved the large Chinese Mantid, Tenodera aridifolia. Our native Carolina Mantis, Stagmomantis carolina, is far too small to take a hummingbird.


The quandary now becomes: Does one leave nature alone or intrude because an introduced (invasive?) species is preying upon a native one?


Happy Nature Watching!


BILL

======

At the risk of sounding heartless, I'd leave the mantis where he is.  Other
than trying to make nature seem less brutal or more palatable, I can't think
of any good justification for moving or bothering him - and neither of those
seems sufficient.  But that may just be me...

-Sandy

--
Sandy Cash
Durham, NC

===

Before I ask my bird-related question let me describe the event that
provoked it.

I have a perennial bed that is right outside my kitchen window and by
this time in the year is looking rather ripe and full. There is a
dahlia plant in it (Bishop of Llandaff) that has bright red flowers and
attracts both butterflies and, for some reason, hummingbirds--though I
never imagined that dahlias were particularly nectar-rich. It has also
attracted a very large green Praying Mantis (or is it "Preying"?) that
has lurked about in the dark red stems of the dahlia. I have often
played hide and seek with this impressive insect and not given it any
further thought--until today.

This morning, as I was watching a butterfly hover over a dahlia the
Mantis reared up and jabbed it. It held it in its pincer-like front
claws and started eating it from the end of its abdomen. As it chewed
its way up the abdomen I could see the inside of its pink mouth; its
grip was so tight that the poor butterfly had no chance, not only did
its front claws hook over the butterfly's body , they even pierced its
wings. The grisly thing about this was that the butterfly was alive
pretty much the entire time as the Mantis fed on it--even as it chewed
through the thorax and reached the head. Finally, in about 5 minutes
the Mantis was done and the disembodied wings floated down into the
shrubbery as the Mantis sat sated on the branch. It was a fascinating,
if gruesome, show.

My question is about hummers. I remember reading that some early
ornithologists in S America actually came across Mantises feeding on
Hummers. But that was S America and the Mantises may have been larger,
or the hummers smaller than our Ruby Throateds. Anyway, I really dont
want to see a repeat of this drama with a hummer and am wondering if
the Mantis poses any threat to the birds, especially these days as they
come through in large numbers. Any suggestions or thoughts?

Shantanu Phukan
Carrboro


--

BILL HILTON JR., Executive Director
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
1432 DeVinney Road, York, South Carolina 29745 USA
hilton@hiltonpond.org, (803) 684-5852, eFax: (503) 218-0845

The mission of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is "to conserve plants, animals, habitats, and other natural components of the Piedmont Region of the eastern United States through observation, scientific study, and education for students of all ages." Please visit our web sites (courtesy of Comporium.net) at http://www.hiltonpond.org and http://www.rubythroat.org ("Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project").

"Never trust a person too lazy to get up for sunrise or too busy to
watch the sunset."					BHjr.