Beware The Mantis Is Coming

Beware the Mantis is coming

By Joseph Parish

We all remember a time when we sat up late at night watching horror films depicting strange creatures stalking around in the night in search of blood and flesh. Well, this isn’t a “B” rated horror movie script, but rather a tale of Mother Nature and its strange way of manifesting survival of a species. On this page my goal is to inform the reader of a grave threat involving our loving hummingbird population.

The Chinese Praying Mantises was once released into the wild as a pest control agent involving damaging insects, but unfortunately it is now stalking the friendly hummingbirds. This is not just an issue in America, but the treat is taking place worldwide from one section of the globe to another. The mantises are not only attacking the hummingbirds, but any small birds which they encounter.

In our normal day to day activities we feel comfortable with the thought that some predators and prey combination are acceptable, such as birds eating invasive insects, however, it sends chills down our backs when we envision just the opposite with an insect such as the mantis devouring small birds like hummingbirds. Imagine setting up your hummingbird feeder so the little birds can be watched as it sucks the nectar from the feeder only to be a witness to the horrid death of the bird at the jaws of the mantis. Frightening as is may be to watch this Praying Mantis sit silently in its eerie position waiting motionlessly to ambush its prey; it is something we should be aware of.

A study released by the Wilson Journal of Ornithology has revealed that there is a global threat whereby mantises are taking joy in feeding upon birds. Granted, we were aware that the mantis was a carnivore, usually devouring an assortment of arthropod insects such as spiders but we usually overlook that issue.

The cute praying mantises are generally a non-aggressive carnivorous insect. They usually show no interest what-so-ever in devouring your fingers or eating the family dog. However, it will display deadly behavior when it is stalked or provoked by a predator including humans. In composition the mantis uses its foreleg spikes which are lined with a vast number of sharp spines merely to protect itself. The needle-like spines pierce the skin of its prey. Notice I indicated these mantises are harmless to humans, however, they can still bite you. We often view these creatures as so harmless that we want to pick them up for a closer observation. This is all well and good as long as we grab these little critters up from behind so they cannot reach for your hand. If they do reach your hand, chances are good that they will bite you.

The maximum size of a praying mantis can be 6 inches long. A creature this size will not hesitate to bite a human if it feels threatened. When they stand erect on their hind legs and start fanning their wings look out as they are in attack mode. Some may even start to hiss at their potential attacker in order to intimidate them. On occasion they will bravely and fearlessly confront a curious dog and may bite it when angered.

Praying Mantis love to eat their prey alive, think back to our poor hummingbird. A female mantis is even worse than the male as this dead female even beheads and devours her own partner after mating. They may even eat small vertebrates like a frog, lizard, salamander or a snake.

Research has shown that there are 12 types of mantises which are bird-eating, as documented in 13 different countries. These acts may be part of Mother Nature’s survival instincts, but we as humans may have unwittingly played a part in this issue. More than 70 percent of the cases documented have taken place in the U.S., where the praying mantis grabs hummingbirds from their feeders.

We may question how this vicious cycle may have started. Decades ago, mantises such as the Chinese Mantis (Tenodera sinensis) was a popular device for biological pest control. This may have seemed like a great idea at the time, but unfortunately when non-native insects are usually introduced to our environment all sorts of chaos could break loose, and in this case it did. These imported Mantises are now a potential threat to our hummingbird populations. Just because we can buy pest-controlling mantises at our local garden supply shop does not necessarily mean we should. When we do it means we will likely put our beautiful hummingbirds at risk. I advise that you weigh these series of events carefully before making your purchase.

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