It's bad enough they're some of the biggest and creepiest bugs around, now scientists say they're eating birds across the globe.

New scientific research has found that praying mantises are attacking and eating birds, usually hummingbirds, in every continent on the planet except Antarctica. Most horrifying of all, scientists have found that the mantises are grasping the birds by their heads and then consuming their brains.

A YouTube search shows lots of videos of praying mantises killing or attacking hummingbirds, and since many are disturbing, I'll only include this one that shows how fast a mantis can move.

Mantises are also known to eat lizards, frogs, butterflies, and even small mice. Mantises are often purchased to get rid of pest insects, but they can become problematic if they begin eating helpful insects or other animals.

Praying mantises are found in Louisiana and since some are purchases for pest control, you may want to keep an eye on your hummingbird feeders to make sure there aren't any patiently waiting to eat those beautiful little birds.

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