Hello Geni,
I'm sorry your butterflies ended up in such a manner. However, Preying Mantids do a lot more good than harm. They are really great beneficial insects to have around. On the other hand I know how you feel. I hope the Monarch's are past you area so the Mantids don't start making a meal of them too!
Funny thing, I saw a Mantis in the garden this morning but it was more of a shocking sight! Mantis females are all about & a few males are still drawn to them to mate. This female has already been mated so instead of being a Romeo this poor fella lost his head! He's still clinging to his lady love. Talk about love you to death!
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The insect world can be brutal, eat or be eaten!

ButterflyHunter

Wow, those are really great pictures. I love mantids but they are very unpicky about what they eat. Bees, moths, butterflies, you name it. My dear cat used to eat mantids when she could catch them. The only thing she wouldn't eat was the head!

What a picture!! A bit gruesome but amazing. I have heard about spiders devouring their much smaller mates but didn't realize that this unfortunate predilection (from the male point of view) carried over to Mantises as well.

WOW! Sal, that is a GREAT shot! :) I keep the Mantids in the front yard in the RosesÂ:) I don't allow them in the Butterfly Sanctuary. Period. I have the same probem, Geni, but with the lizards in our yard. I find these wings here and there but no bodiesÂthen I spot the lizard. :P

Great photos!
I have introduced Mantids into my garden a couple of times but have never seen them after the initial release. They are very cute when they are small!

OMG! I had read the later posts as e-mails and just now saw Sal's picture. What a shot -- and the lady looks so smug about it.
Here are a couple of the Sulphurs that didn't meet such a foul end (or at least not until later).
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All your pictures are great!
I've heard people say that, when somebody was mad at them, they bit their head off - I didn't realize that could literally be true!
MissSherry

Hello Geni,
I love those pictures of the Sulphurs! I wished they would come visit Northern California for awhile. They area beautiful & I also have a few host plants for them too!.
As for A Butterfly's worst nightmare here's another one.
These little jumping spiders are very clever & will not hesitate to take down prey much larger than themselves as this skipper will atest. These Jumping Spiders are excellent hunters hiding on the underside of a leaf or between the petals of a flower watching for any movement or shadows. Then the little Jumper will attach an anchor line & when the prey is close enough it will pounce & subdue its prey. If it misses(which is rare, they possess deadly accuracy) It reels it self back up via it's safety line. Remarkable little creatures these are. Butterflies beware!
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Shelob has emerged from her lair. I've had a big garden spider keeping the GF cat population under control on my passionflower, but I've never caught her in the act. She caught me in her web the other day though, and I totally lost it. I don't know where she went in my thrashing and flinging of arms trying to get the web off me.

gcertain,

Hi. what is that canna you have? i can grow them in south florida with out problem, so if you know the name i will try to get it. i love your butterflies on the flower. sorry about the others though.

Thank you.

Radha.

I had not seen your Sulphur on Red Canna pics until now. I love the top one where the light is shining through the wings of the butterfly and the petals of the Canna, all silhouetted against the blue sky. BEAUTIFUL!!

Hey...have you bug-snapping folk considered sharing some of these neat pics with WhatsThatBug?

AWESOME pics!

PA

Radhavall, I don't know the name of the canna variety. It came up on its own. But if you like, I'll dig up some tubers and send them to you. It's quite hardy. The leaves are plain green. It has three or four bloom stalks on it now. E-mail me your name and address.