Over at birdwatchersdigest.com a guy writes about a large praying mantis in his yard that caught and ate a hummingbird.
The other day while I was working in the yard my son urgently called to me. "Dad, a praying mantis caught a hummingbird!"
Not sure what to expect, but knowing my son is not one to tell an untruth, I came running to see for myself. By the time I arrived it was too late for the poor hummer and my scientifically minded son had already begun taking pictures and studying the scene.
As you can see from the photographs this hungry mantis captured and killed a hummingbird not much smaller than itself. The hummer measured 2 inches and the mantis was about the same! The mantis used its spiny left foreleg to impale the hummingbird through the chest while leaving his right leg free.
Link (Google cached version here) (thanks, Tony and Jim!)
