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Here are pics of the mantis I found 2 nights ago. I'll start w the beauty shots. She's an adult female Stagmomantis sp. (I think S. limbata or californica), a native sp. in my area. She's perched on California Fuschia (Epilobium sp., formerly Zauschneria). This plant is great--
--for SoCal dry gardens; it's one of the only things that blooms in late summer, and survives with little to no extra water once established. Hummingbirds love it, too. Btw, with our skies occluded by wildfire smoke, the only way to get this blue sky background was--
--by shooting the scene indoors, with a piece of blue-and-white art-project paper as the background. I only took a few shots like this, then Ms. Mantis climbed onto--
--my hand and I took her outside to let her go. I put her on a Baja Fairyduster shrub (Calliandra californica) in the garden, which blooms constantly and is always full of bees, flies, butterflies, moths - all good mantis chow. Sure enough, in less than a minute, she nabbed--
--a honeybee. Mantids are elegant, but they are also powerful predators. And they're indiscriminate about their prey - if it moves, it's food. I understand feeling bad for the bee; it's a rough way to go. But unlike the mantis, the European honeybee isn't a native--
--species. There's lots of press about "Save the Bees," but honeybees are in no danger of extinction. They're a domesticated insect. There are real problems with colony collapse disorder (which may have several causes), but HBs are bred in huge numbers in captivity. In fact, in--
--my garden, they're present in such numbers that they seem to be crowding out native bees, and it's many of those species that need attention from "Save the Bees" efforts. So don't stress about honeybees. They're fine. I mean, not this particular one... but overall. Anyway...
...once the mantis grabbed the bee, I knew something interesting would happen, so I waited. I didn't have to wait long. Almost instantly - literally, in under ten seconds - the first of several tiny flies zoomed in and began nomming on the bee while the mantis fed. I believe--
--they're Freeloader Flies, aka Jackal Flies, (family Milichiidae). They apparently hone in on alarm/stress chemicals released by captured/injured prey, in this case the hapless honeybee. To me, the amazing thing was how quickly they arrived on scene. It makes sense when--
--dealing with a feeding mantis, because mantids eat like hungry teenagers, so if the flies want a chance at any crumbs, they need to show up in a hurry. I don't know if these flies feed on other things, like nectar; if so, that would explain why they were in the neighborhood--
--already. I've seen them on mantis and spider kills. In both cases, the big predator ignored the flies. It's pretty impressive to watch them - you gotta be on your toes to safely grab food around a mantis's sharp mandibles.
And now... I think I'll go have lunch.
And now... I think I'll go have lunch.
