EATING Preying Mantis PIC AWESOME
Dear Bugman,
Our garden is always chock full of Preying Mantis’. It took me three years, but I finally saw one eating something! Looks like he caught some sort of caterpillar and was sucking out the inners while holding him in his grasp. Quite an awesome show, I must say!
Rich
Cincinnati, Ohio
Hi Rich,
We have been meaning to post your wonderful image for several days, but we are constantly barraged by new emails and you got lost in the shuffle. We believe this is a Chinese Mantid, Tenodera aridifolia, but would welcome an expert opinion regarding the identification. The caterpillar is an American Dagger Moth Caterpillar.
That is an adult male Tenodera sinensis. Chinese mantis.