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Re: Mantises and Hummers



I stand corrected - if it's an exotic doing the killing, I have no problem
with Mr. Mantis being squashed himself.

-Sandy

-- 
Sandy Cash
Durham, NC

"The time for change is here and here we are, we're just for you!" -
Funkadelic
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "BILL HILTON JR The Piedmont Naturalist" <hilton@hiltonpond.org>
To: "CarolinaBirds" <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2003 5:39 PM
Subject: 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.