# Nov 2009 National Geographic - Mantid pic



## cloud jaguar (Oct 21, 2009)

There is a very nice picture of a healthy S. Limbata in this month's National Geographic magazine - it is perched on a ###### eating a #######! (i put those #s to avoid being a spoiler).


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## hibiscusmile (Oct 21, 2009)

Is it online? I dont get the mag!


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## PhilinYuma (Oct 22, 2009)

hibiscusmile said:


> Is it online? I dont get the mag!


For the past few years, _National Geographic_* has broken with tradition and can now be bought at magazine stands.  

*Many of you are probably asking yourselves, "Why has Phil stopped underlining the names of magazines and started placing them in italics, like books, instead?" I'm glad you asked. The reason is that I have switched from PMLA to APA formatting in the belief that most members will be more familiar with the latter.


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## Rick (Oct 22, 2009)

You posted this in the photo section but didn't post the pic.


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## AmandaLynn (Oct 22, 2009)

Poor little humming bird.


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## fatal_mantis (Oct 23, 2009)

Poor bird. Ive seen videos of them getting humming birds but Ive never seen such a clear picture before.


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## cloud jaguar (Oct 23, 2009)

geez, that s. limbata is some mighty fine breeding stock! -- too bad she is green and not pink though!


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## Katnapper (Oct 23, 2009)

Wow.... :huh: just wow.


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## revmdn (Oct 23, 2009)

That's one strong bug.


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## bassist (Oct 23, 2009)

I call possible setup hard to believe a _Stagmomantis _to take down a hummingbird though they are weak birds.

;///


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## Ntsees (Oct 23, 2009)

bassist said:


> I call possible setup hard to believe a _Stagmomantis _to take down a hummingbird though they are weak birds.;///


Dude, I'm right with you there! I don't know why but I seem to doubt that the mantid in the picture was capable of capturing that hummingbird. I was going to post a comment about it yesterday but I retracted because I didn't want to look like some person who doesn't think it's possible. I know that it's possible but I would believe it more if it was from a Chinese mantid due to their larger size. I've seen how hummingbirds fly and how they hover and by analyzing their speed and strength in the air, I do not think that Limbata mantid is capable of capturing that. Further analyzation shows that the mantid in the photo would not have enough "grip" to hold onto that ~red honey-feeder (smooth plastic edges) as the hummingbird was trying to escape in it's forelegs. Also, if you look carefully, the hummingbird's eyes have been "~smudged" in - meaning that from my experience, eyes like that shows that the bird was already dead some time ago. The eyes should be buldging outward (convex) in freshly killed and live animals. Ok, I want to hear what you guys think. Say something.


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## Rick (Oct 23, 2009)

Hmmm. Tenedora yes. Stagmomantis no.


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## hibiscusmile (Oct 23, 2009)

Not Chinese, and OW!


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## AmandaLynn (Oct 23, 2009)

I think it's possible. Underneath all the plumage is a very tiny bird, if the humming bird was already exhausted it would probably be an easy meal for a mantis. But it could easily have been staged.


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## massaman (Oct 23, 2009)

well that could be staged but here is a couple more pictures though from a different source showing this same kind of thing!

http://scottthong.files.wordpress.com/2006...hummingbird.jpg






http://scottthong.files.wordpress.com/2006...tis_hummer2.jpg


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## Rick (Oct 23, 2009)

^ I always thought those looked fake. Much more so than the first one.


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## yeatzee (Oct 23, 2009)

looks to be a limbata....


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## yeatzee (Oct 23, 2009)

another very interesting video

both videos do not display a Tenedora species, but a smaller species. (looks to be stagmomantis)

Therefor, to me the pic looks legit.


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## Morpheus uk (Oct 23, 2009)

Horrible mind for tiny mandibles to slowly mince up a whole vertebrate


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## Rick (Oct 23, 2009)

Hmmm maybe a stagmomantis can do it.


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## yeatzee (Oct 23, 2009)

well I know they will at least try (as seen in the second video towards the end). They are gluttons to say the least.

So, my vote is that this picture is legit.


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## Ntsees (Oct 23, 2009)

Ok, thanks guys for showing me. Although there were some that I still think were set-up, there were also some that clearly showed the most evidence for that possibility (from yeatzee -

 ).


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## yeatzee (Oct 23, 2009)

Do explain......


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## Ntsees (Oct 23, 2009)

yeatzee said:


> Do explain......


Whether it was staged or not, it looks like it is possible. Based on the other videos, it looks like a mantid other than a Chinese will go for it and succeed. In the video that I referred to, in my view, the setting gave proof even though it didn't capture the moment the mantid grabbed the hummingbird. This is only my prediction and others may disagree - in the video, it shows a mantid eating the hummingbird. If that hummingbird was captured by the mantid, the support (woody stems) the mantid was on will give slack as the struggle and swirling goes on. Basically, the mantid would still be able to hold onto the bird and the woody stems it was on. The struggle may take a while, but the bird would eventually lose strength and be taken. In the original picture (Nat. Geo.), I believe the mantid would have fallen off just like the mantid in one of the videos. That's why I wasn't going to believe that the original mantid captured that hummingbird, struggled with it, and still manage to eat it on that slippery surface without falling off.

So, to refute myself, a mantid other than a Chinese does have the strength to capture and kill a hummingbird.


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## yeatzee (Oct 23, 2009)

Ok, I see what you are saying. I was confused and thought you were saying the first video I posted was "staged."


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## kamakiri (Oct 23, 2009)

I'm certain it is real. S. limbata in the wild have little fear with anything visiting a flower. They strike at almost anthing moving in their reach when hungry. I had trouble pulling some fiberglass mesh that one of my wild caught girls grabbed, just because it was the first thing that passed by in 3 days. I had trouble making her give it up as she was determined to bring it to her and bite it. I was pulling harder than a 5 lb trigger. My larger limbatas are still smaller than any sinensis females I've had, but I think they have similar reach and strength, perhaps more.

And while I love humming birds, there really isn't much to them. I had a fledgeling once on my finger, and I could barely feel it...like it was all feathers.


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## Ntsees (Oct 23, 2009)

yeatzee said:


> Ok, I see what you are saying. I was confused and thought you were saying the first video I posted was "staged."


 :lol: The funny thing was the other video you posted up. How on earth did that mantid get onto that hummingbird feeder (if you were to exclude the possibility that someone literally put it there)? I don't see any branches that may have aided it's way there and the sides on that feeder appears to be slippery. If that mantid fell from a branch above the feeder, that is one lucky landing.


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## yeatzee (Oct 23, 2009)

You can't possibly make a conclusion while only being able to see half of the feeder? The bird feeder obviously is attached to something so all the mantid would have to do is crawl down the string or w/e it is attached with. All that movement must be tantalizing for a hungry mantid


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## kamakiri (Oct 23, 2009)

The mantis will not have a problem getting to the feeder without falling from a branch. I've seen a limbata perched on top of a rose bloom about 8 feet+ high. It also surprises me how well limbata tarsal claws or sticky pads cling to smooth plastic. My girls scale brand new kritter keeper walls pretty easily going up or down. I even have one ooth that was laid with her four walking legs only on the clear smooth plastic. I'm certain she got there on her own. Limbatas also like large blooms...exactly what the feeder emulates. They also like to hang underneath, just like the one pictured is doing.


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## cloud jaguar (Oct 23, 2009)

I dont expect a hummingbird would actually struggle at all - it believe it would probably die of cardiac arrest if grabbed.


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## cloud jaguar (Oct 23, 2009)

i also know s. limbatas to be total pigs that will actively hunt down prey items. Assuming this is an s. limbata, i would vote that it is legit. Just now i was taking pictures of one of our pink s. limbatas in the front yard on a sage blossom when a hummingbird came by! It didn't happen though that the mantid saw/attacked it. Definitely would not put it past an s. limbata though


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## Ntsees (Oct 23, 2009)

Arkanis said:


> i also know s. limbatas to be total pigs that will actively hunt down prey items. Assuming this is an s. limbata, i would vote that it is legit. Just now i was taking pictures of one of our pink s. limbatas in the front yard on a sage blossom when a hummingbird came by! It didn't happen though that the mantid saw/attacked it. Definitely would not put it past an s. limbata though


Yeah, I agree that it's a limbata. In my book, unless it can be shown that it's underwings are ~purple/black/red, it qualifies for a limbata because it doesn't have the black spec on it's forewings.


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## elf run1 (Oct 23, 2009)

i read somwhere that hummingbirds when scared are prone to get heat attacks so...that gets rid of the challenge of holding the birds...also on youtube a mantis catching a snake and a mouse. kills the mouse, but snake gets away with a few bites


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## PhilinYuma (Oct 24, 2009)

king of elves said:


> i read somwhere that hummingbirds when scared are prone to get heat attacks so...that gets rid of the challenge of holding the birds...also on youtube a mantis catching a snake and a mouse. kills the mouse, but snake gets away with a few bites


I remember reading once about an old lady who swallowed a fly, but I don't know why she swallowed the fly.

I thought she'd die.


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## MantidLord (Oct 25, 2009)

Arkanis said:


> I dont expect a hummingbird would actually struggle at all - it believe it would probably die of cardiac arrest if grabbed.


+1. Hummingbirds are known for dying with the slightest shock. So getting hit by a mantis out of no where would kill it and make it as easy enough to kill as a butterfly. So I don't really think the whole "struggle support" theory is a factor. Especially if you consider: no struggle, and hummingbirds are very light.


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## mantidsandgeckos (Oct 25, 2009)

PhilinYuma said:


> I remember reading once about an old lady who swallowed a fly, but I don't know why she swallowed the fly.I thought she'd die.


poor flies


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## animalexplorer (Mar 31, 2011)

It's possible the hummers that fall prey to this scenario could be either young, old or possibly sick, which makes for an easier catch. Humming birds are very small birds, if you could imagine one without feathers they would appear even smaller, something a big mantid species could catch. Although dealing with bigger prey can be more of a catching challenge, holding onto it might present an even greater task.


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## Mr.Mantid (Mar 31, 2011)

Heres an interesting vid where a mantis actually snags one, but the bird gets away. I can't tell what species it is though.


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