Here's a preview of what I have coming in 2025... Mantises. This image shows a Ruby-throated hummingbird seeing the peril just in time from a Carolina female mantis. Yes, mantises will hunt and eat hummingbirds. They perch above feeding ports and wait for unsuspecting hummingbirds, then grabbing them by their heads. To prove that this really happens, I've included a photo shot at one of our own feeders on our front porch with a California mantis. We moved that mantis to a plant in order to protect our hummers. The Carolina Mantis is native to the Americas and can be found from the United States southwards to Brazil. Adult females are 47 to 60 mm (1.9–2.4 inches) in length while adult males are usually about 54 mm (2.1 inches) in length. The Carolina mantis has a dusty brown, gray or green color which is useful as camouflage in certain environments. These colors can changed after their molt to better match their hunting grounds. The defining differences between the Carolina and European mantis is that the later has longer wings and eye-like marking under the foreleg "armpits".