Conflicts of Interest…

Johnny-on-the-Spot … by John Foster …

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I stood on the front porch of the palatial Foster estate recently and looked at my two sugar-water-filled hummingbird feeders.

I was immediately conflicted.

Why?

There was a praying mantis clinging onto the side of one of those feeders.

He was obviously in stalking mode.

There aren’t many cases of it happening, but those crafty critters have been able to catch a “hummer” and have it for dinner.

My quandary was that I like both praying mantises and hummingbirds.

I made a quick assessment and thought I would feel better if I relocated that praying mantis to the flower bed on the south side of the garage so he wouldn’t be tempted to snag a hummingbird for a snack.

Generally speaking, praying mantises will only eat live food like beetles, crickets and grasshoppers.

But, they’ll also nibble on bees and butterflies and, on occasion, hummingbirds.

On occasion, a mantis will go after small frog, lizards and spiders but some of those will also eat them.

Now, this praying mantis wasn’t huge but I suspect he could have snatched an unwary hummingbird who stopped by to feed.

Those front legs have those spikes or spears that will impale whatever they latch on to.

Now, hummingbirds are quick.

Their wings beat 50 times a second and 30 percent of their weight is in the pectoral muscles that drive those wings.

While they are “darters” to and from my feeders, when they “hover”, they can occupy the same space for quite a spell.

There are times when I’m changing their food that one or two will hover within inches of me with their wings making a noticeable sound, like a buzz or hum.

As a kid, I would capture a praying mantis and put it in the screen-top box I built and toss in grasshoppers and crickets I grabbed.

I was fascinated by their “Tyranosaurus” look and their design.

The praying mantis has about a 300 degree field of vision with those huge eyes that allow them to see in 3-D.

Hummingbirds see in ultra violet light and can see much further than we humans.

A praying mantis is the only insect capable of turning its’ head from side-to-side.

They’re often hard to spot because they can be in that “stalking position” for a long time, never moving before suddenly striking.

Hummingbirds have amazing strength and durability. They will fly over 3,000 miles to their winter vacation spots in Mexico and other parts of Central America.

Those fine-feathered friends can fly up to 500 miles in a single go.

Although they’re “diurnal”, meaning they normally sleep at night and are active during the day, they will fly day and night while migrating.

They must eat twice their body weight every day to keep going and, while they love sugar water, they’d prefer to consume 5-8 doses of nectar each hour.

A praying mantis is as agile as a cat and they can jump with extreme precision.

Combined with their amazing eyesight it’s little wonder the Greek word “mantis” means “seer” or “prophet”.

Both of them are somewhat similar in light of the fact that the female birds may have a number of different mates while the mantis ladies will sometimes bite off the head of their male partners.

While this happens in about 1 in 4 matings, studies indicate those females produce more eggs.

Female hummingbird lay eggs the size of a jelly bean, weighing about 1/50th of an ounce and a nest will be about the size of a half-dollar.

A female mantis lays hundreds of eggs in a protective foam.

This “ootheca” hardens as it dries and is tough and durable, a lot like styrofoam.

As a kid years ago, I put one of these egg packets between the furnace air ducts in our basement.

They hatched in late February and there was a solid trail of little mantises snaking across the floor toward the gas dryer pilot light.

They were somewhat translucent and were perfect replicas of adult mantises.

Now, if I had a group of hummingbirds like that, they would be known as a “charm”.

The ancient Spaniards used to call hummers “flying jewels”.

In some cultures, a praying mantis was a symbol of grace, good luck and wisdom.

Still others thought they signified death and evil.

If you look closely at a praying mantis head, you’ll clearly see where that sentiment came from!

While a praying mantis has 2 large compound eyes and 3 other “simple eyes” they also have just one ear.

It’s on the underside of their belly just forward of the hind legs.

A hummingbird can go into state of “torpor” on cold nights, lowering their metabolic by 95%.

But, it will take them up to an hour to wake up the next morning.

I’m fascinated by both hummingbirds and praying mantises but now I’ll keep an eye out for them getting too “chummy” around my feeders.

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