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Project Noah Nature School
Stagmomantis carolina
I saw the mantis snatch the bee right in front of me. The bee struggled valiantly for a couple of minutes & then the mantis inexplicably dropped it. I'm not sure if a bee can inflict a sting on a mantis but the mantis seemed very shocked & didn't move for several minutes after it had lost it's prey.
Spotted on Oct 4, 2011
Submitted on Oct 4, 2011
4 Comments
Thanks Arun!
nice 3D view ..
WOW! Great! The bee won or maybe not.
I checked on the mantis about an hour after this incident & it was still hanging in the same position as photo 6 & though still alive it barely responded to me when I touched it. I couldn't find it again today so I don't know if it recovered or got eaten by the birds.
It seems likely to me that it was stung by the bee - does anyone know if this is possible?