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European Mantis with a bee in her left, and a wasp in her right foreleg…

How this came to be: I had been on the look-out for a flowering plant that was attracting a wide variety of pollinators. Apparently, so was this Mantis. I found a Saw-toothed Goldenbush with Skippers, a Gray Hairstreak, Western Honey Bees, and Sweat Bees, and started to take a few pictures of the various visitors to the tiny Goldenbush flowers. I suddenly heard a high-pitched, panicky buzz sound, like from a fly who got caught in a trap, searched the plant to find its source, and discovered the Mantis holding a bee in her front legs. As the Mantis started to eat her prey, she was attacked by several Yellowjacket wasps. I was amazed how gutsy these wasps behaved around the much larger Mantis. One was even holding on to the Mantis’ head and tried to rip a piece of bee meat from her mouth. Maybe the wasps felt safe because the Mantis was holding the bee with both forelegs - but not for long. The Mantis ate the bee’s head and with that freed her right foreleg, and grabbed the next wasp that came too close. With two pieces of prey in the Mantis’ possession, she became even more attractive to the voracious wasps. Eventually, the Mantis moved deeper into the Goldenbush, and away from my P.O.V. (For the Western Yellowjackets: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/58501408.)

Coincidentally, I had seen a European Mantis prey on a Western Honey Bee the day before (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/58386031). I was spending some time around a patch of Coastal Wild Buckwheat, to add paired-up plant/pollinator observations to https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/california-pollination-project. Sticking around a patch for a while reveals the anti-pollinators too, insects large and small (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/58335578) that prey on other insects.