When the prey ambushes the hunter

Hummingbirds fly to flowers to suck bile without even knowing that there is a pretty mantis on the branch. In the blink of an eye, the mantis rushed and grabbed the bird.

Hummingbirds stopped breathing after fiercely resisting.Photo: Daily Mail .

Richard Walkup, living on the outskirts of West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA, said his son witnessed the mantis catching hummingbirds and calling him. Then he ran into the house and took the camera and took some pictures. In the picture above, the mantis clings to the tree branch thanks to the 4 hind legs, while holding and stabbing the bird with its front legs. After a struggle, the bird stops breathing and falls.

"I'm sorry for the hummingbird, but I'm also surprised at the strong, quick and precise action of the mantis , " Walkup said.

In nature, mantis is considered one of the masters of camouflage art. The green body helps them blend into plants to evade predators or lodge prey. Most mantis feed on insects. Some large size mantises can hunt lizards, frogs, birds, snakes and mice. Scientists now identify about 2,200 mantis species on the planet. They are classified into 9 groups.

Hummingbird belongs to the Trochilidae family and comes from the Americas. This is the only bird on the planet that can fly backwards. They eat nectar and are one of the important animals for plant pollination. Like bees, hummingbirds can evaluate sugar content in nectar. They often overlook flowers with less than 10% sugar in the bile. Because nectar is not rich in nutrients, hummingbirds must eat both insects and spiders to supplement protein, amino acids, minerals, vitamins and many other trace elements. Mantis is also one of the species hunted by them.