Praying Mantis Eats Lunch

I've got another Tenodera picture for you. As a reminder, Tenodera is the genus that contains 2 related and similar species of praying mantis, the Chinese Mantis and the Narrow-winged (aka Japanese) Mantis. I'll use the Tenodera name just because I can't tell what the species is.

Although I showed you another Tenodera just over a week ago, I wanted to show another today because:

  • They're big, photogenic insects.
  • This one is eating lunch.
So what's for lunch? It's hard to say. My first thought, which could be accurate, that this is a bumble bee. The only reason I'm waffling on that is that usually bumble bees have fairly prominent antennae, and I don't see that in this picture. Of course they could have been broken off or even eaten by the mantis, but some of the hover flies are bee mimics so I wouldn't rule them out either.

Note that the mantis has actually torn its meal in 2; presumably this is the best way to eat these insects. (Certainly the mantis is more of a subject matter expert on bug-eating than I am.)

September 8, 2022 at Fairview Farm
Photo 248396986, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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