The other day there was a picture of a dragonfly clutching a hummingbird on Weibo. Caused a little bit of debate.
I found a 2007 piece of material online that belonged to an organization that studies and conserves organisms, the Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History, whose primary subject was the red-throated north hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). They cite a number of cases in which hummingbirds are preyed upon.
Cats kill hummingbirds, but cats are not hummingbird predators in nature. The Sccipiter striatus and Lanius ludovicianus have preyed on adult hummingbirds. Herons, egrets, trees, grackles, seagulls, orioles, tanagers, walking cranes, flycatchers may all prey on hummingbirds as insects (monkeys miserable...). ）。
Hummingbirds have been found in the stomachs of both micropterus salmoides and bullfrogs, as well as pictures of hummingbirds in the mouths of leopard frogs (Lithobates.sp). The author of the article has also witnessed frogs trying to prey on hummingbirds.
Then let's talk about the arthropods that everyone is interested in.
The more famous hummingbird predator is the praying mantis. In particular, the Tenodera aridifolia sinensis introduced from the United States to control insect pests. South Carolina's State Worm (State Worm... The Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) is too small to harm hummingbirds.
Argiope in the family Arachnidae, and Nephila in the family Neopropylacea, can catch hummingbirds with huge nets.
Published sources show an Anax junius clutching a hummingbird. The author is skeptical of this. Hummingbirds are small, but they are twice as heavy as dragonflies.
Image from Hiltonpond
However, the author receives an email from friends, the Buren and Luanne Blankenship, from Columbus NC. It tells a very strange case that a flying insect can kill hummingbirds, but the perpetrator is not a dragonfly, but another type of large, lesser-known carnivorous insect.
On September 6, they heard a sound in the yard like a child crying, and the two ran outside to find that the sound was made by an adult male red-throated north hummingbird, which had been caught by a large insect. Before she could think about it, the wife trampled the insect to death and rescued the hummingbird (arthropods have no human rights). Some of the feathers on the hummingbird's head were plucked off, but it didn't seem to be a big deal and flew away.
Judging from the photos of the wreckage, this is a large insectivorous fly, unfortunately, has been crushed to pieces and cannot be fixed.
Fortunately, Mr. Blankensip caught the same insectivorous fly and took a picture and sent it. It can be judged that this is a Promachus rufipes, the English name is Red-footed Cannibalfly, which directly translates to "red-footed cannibal fly". Promachus rufipes' nickname is Bee Panther, the cougar that hunts bees (Panther can be translated as puma, leopard or panther, here from north American cultural considerations). It is four centimeters long and only half the size of a hummingbird.
After searching online, the author found the only piece of information on the TexBirds listserv that insectivorous flies hunt hummingbirds. The publisher is Ed Johnson. It happened in September 2006.
Johnson saw a female red-throated north hummingbird, feeding on a feeder, and a large insectivorous fly suddenly rushed from a yucca four feet away, knocked the hummingbird to the ground, killed it with a sharp mouthpiece, and then spent half an hour eating its carcass.
Johnson photographed the insectivorous fly, so he recognized it as Mallophora leschenaulti, nearly 4 centimeters long, the largest insectivorous fly in North America, sneaking up on insects such as Bumble Bee. Its common name in English is Beelzebub Bee-eater, Beelzebub was originally a god in Phoenician culture, and later was vilified, is the Bible representative of the gluttonous demon king, but also the king of the flies, translated as the demon bee eater (too middle two, must be translated).
Image by Bugguide, by Greg W. Lasley
Insectivorous flies are very powerful predators, what is the characteristic of this cargo, if you see one, stare at it, stare, stare, and then "Uh~~~~~~" a sound it is gone, then you will be stunned! And then the sound of "Uh-huh~~~~~" came back! There are worms in their mouths, and pediatrics like Tuli may also catch dragonflies, which is particularly powerful.
Mrs. Blankensip also tried to catch the insectivorous fly with her hand and was bitten. A small red and swollen patch on the middle finger proves the power of these insects. They stab their prey with sharp mouthparts, produce a mixture of enzymes that paralyze and digest the prey, and then suck on the insect juice.