ANOTHER Praying Mantis on the Cam?!
Hmmm. The other one mated and disappeared (off to make her egg sac, no doubt) and now another hungry female native Bordered Mantis showed up. I checked the webcam to see if the feeders needed filling, and there she was right in the midst of them looking around. There are still some bees buzzing the feeders, so she was probably hoping to catch one of them.
I didn’t really want her on the webcam, so I let her crawl on my hand and I set her down where the other mantid fed for two weeks before attracting a mate. I set up Bill Merritt’s “onesie” hummingbird feeder (which I refer to as my bee pez dispenser) next to where I placed her. She caught two bees in quick succession, so she must have been very hungry.
I will be watching her closely.
Carole Studio City, California
PS: This is a picture of the last one mating off. Usually they eat their mates, but the female caught a bee when they were finishing up, and the male took the opportunity to drop off of her quickly while she was occupied. Nature is fascinating!