No, no, no, you got it all wrong!

I said “Please don't eat the pollinators! No butterflies and no bees. Eat the flies, gnats, mosquitoes, aphids and stink bugs.  No butterflies or bees.”

Sadly, the praying mantis in our family bee garden does not listen to me. On Thursday morning, July 31 the praying mantis snagged and devoured a Western tiger swallowtail that made the fatal mistake of landing on his Mexican sunflower (Tithonia)

On Sunday morning, Aug. 2, while perched on the same flower, the praying mantis polished off a honey bee.

I was walking through the garden at the time but never saw the strike. One second he's lying in wait, and the next second, his powerful forelegs are gripping a honey bee.

You don't want to know what happened after that.

Still, I wonder...did the honey bee manage to sting him?