Terrifying truth: Mantis hunt birds and eat prey's brain as soon as they are alive

Based on the collected data, the scientists found that the prey of the mantis was primarily hummingbirds.

Nature is amazing but equally harsh.

According to a report from the University of Basel, Switzerland, in addition to insects or spiders, the number of bird-hunting mantises is on the rise worldwide.

New York University biologist William Brown agrees with the report. Brown also revealed that the mantis regularly pierced the prey's skull to eat the brain.

Retired ecologist Dietrich Meds added: " Mantis hold on and eat the prey's brain as soon as they are alive, slowly and slowly until there is nothing left . "

According to Live Science, the researchers surveyed many records, including published studies, and social media posts, to search for images or evidence about the mantis attacking birds. .

Finally, they found 147 cases of bird-hunting mantises in 13 countries. The earliest case they recorded occurred in 1864 but 67% of the total incidents occurred from 2000 to 2015.

Because only relying on the attacks recorded by humans, scientists have not calculated the frequency of bird hunters. However, at least scientists concluded that these incidents occurred worldwide, except for the antarctic.

Hummingbirds in the US are the most frequent victims of mantis. More than 70% of the attacks are recorded when hummingbirds visit people's troughs. Because Americans have a preference for hummingbirds to eat and observe, they often see sightings of hummingbirds.

Scientists believe that the release of alien mantises into North America by humans over the past decade has caused an increase in the number of flies being eaten by mantis. In addition, according to scientists, the native mantis in America also hunts birds but at lower frequencies.

Quick search results on Google show that many people still carry the mantis in the hope that they will eat harmful insects like flies. However, the disadvantage is that mantis will also kill creatures that humans do not hate like butterflies and sometimes hummingbirds.

"Our research shows that mantis creates threats to some bird populations. Therefore, we need to be cautious about using mantis for pest control , " said Martin Nyffeler, lead author. of research sharing.