a Preying mantis eats Monarch!

Preying mantis eats Monarch!

At the Butterfly House today I saw a couple Painted Ladys around some lantana and pentas. They don't like to sit still very much, but I finally got a few pictures of them. Also saw a Red Admiral, some Monarchs, whites, sulfurs and some Spicebush Swallowtails. There were also some very small Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillars on the spicebushes. I even saw one Tiger Swallowtail, but I was disappointed that I didn't see a Zebra Swallowtail around there, I really wanted to get a picture of one. I can't tell the difference between Pearl Crescents and some checkerspots, but I saw one or the other of those also. The most exciting part of volunteering today was discovering a preying mantis eating a Monarch, not that I wanted to see a Monarch die, but its not something you see everyday. It was a really big preying mantis too. I took some pictures, hopefully they will turn out ok. (edited - pictures came back, here they are! It's hard to see the preying mantis though, because he is so well camouflaged. It is more clear in the 3rd picture though.) At home, Monarch #1 formed its J-shape. Didn't see many other butterflies though.