To Kill a Hummingbird ... (Let Us Prey!)

[uwe]

Ferocious lil' green fella, ain't it? 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/science/praying-mantis-eating-birds.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_sc_20170926&nl=science-times&nlid=79166635&ref=img&te=1&_r=0



We learn: Nature is more creative than man. It will turn a hummingbird feeder into one for praeying mantises. 

[BTL]

Fascinating.

[gearHed289]

Wow! They're apparently taking on large lizards too.

[uwe]

Oh my, those follow-up Godzilla films were beyond corny! Endearing.

[TBird1958]

I've only seen a Mantis twice in my almost 60 years, interestingly both times they were clinging to the of the building I work at in Tacoma, Wa. Can they change color?  This one is obviously trying to blend in a bit.

[Highlander]

No colour changing variants I'm aware of... but lots of variants...

[westen44]

I saw them quite a few times when I was a boy.  My reaction was always the same.  I found them eerie and revolting.  Later on I heard about some of the things they do--like the female biting the head off the male.  I've learned even more from that article.  I didn't know they were so closely related to cockroaches, for example. 

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I've seen tons of 'em. Mostly green ones, a few brown. The green ones seem to be bigger across the board, averaging around 6-8 inches. The brown ones are about half to 2/3 that and skinnier. There was a small brown one that lived in my backyard that had it OUT for my ex-wife a few years ago. Anytime she was outside, it would stalk and chase her. It never bothered me. I was mowing the yard earlier this year and looked over my left shoulder to see a huge green one (twice or more the size of the one in Uwe's pic) perched there just catching a ride. It never bothered me and flew off.

[gearHed289]

I always found them fascinating and are my favorite insect (everyone has a favorite insect, right?). Never saw one in these parts up until a few years ago. Now they're popping up like crazy.

[uwe]

They were frequent in Zaire/Congo, the green, large ones. I thought they looked cool, even kept one of them as a pet (try keeping two as pets and you VERY SOON end up with just one ...  ). There was nothing it would not eat as long as it moved and could be overpowered.  Always felt that praying mantises were a partial inspiration to the Alien monster. They don't change color, just different species.

Pretty much like spiders, they're mainly insect killers (give or take the odd hummingbird, ok ...) and don't do any harm to people at all. It drives me nuts when Edith with her arachnophobia kills all the spiders in our apartment (this time of year they become frequent looking for a warm place), I always go "Leave it, it's a Nützling***!" And she goes (imagine slapping noise): "Not anymore, it ain't! It's either spiders or me here."  

***beneficial insect

[westen44]

I was always interested in science fiction.  So comparing the praying mantis to an alien creature was something that came to mind from time to time.  But I was more fascinated by something like the granddaddy long-legs spider. 

[TBird1958]

They were frequent in Zaire/Congo, the green, large ones. I thought they looked cool, even kept one of them as a pet (try keeping two as pets and you VERY SOON end up with just one ...  ). There was nothing it would not eat as long as it moved and could be overpowered.  Always felt that praying mantises were a partial inspiration to the Alien monster. They don't change color, just different species.

Pretty much like spiders, they're mainly insect killers (give or take the odd hummingbird, ok ...) and don't do any harm to people at all. It drives me nuts when Edith with her arachnophobia kills all the spiders in our apartment (this time of year they become frequent looking for a warm place), I always go "Leave it, it's a Nützling***!" And she goes (imagine slapping noise): "Not anymore, it ain't! It's either spiders or me here."  


It seems Edith and I have arachnophobia in common, I go out of my way to kill them in the house - and it scares me to do it!
Funny though, I like the two mantis a lot and find them fascinating and I really like beetles a lot too, any errant ones are always given safe passage.   




***beneficial insect

[Rob]

Pretty common in the mid-west everywhere. . . But not as bird eaters.
Here in Florida just their cousins walking sticks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phasmatodea

[uwe]

I always thought those cool too.

Anything locust-like attracts me, Hopper is my favourite Pixar villain!



I always thought he had a little Lee van Cleef/Henry Fonda Spaghetti Western bad guy in him.

[Highlander]

Kevin Spacey's voice...