All critters are welcome in our backyard habitat. We are especially fond of mantises. We have natives and non-natives in our habitat. Yes, they eat butterflies. Yes, they Silently Judge from the moment they come out of the ootheca. No, they are not a problem. We still have dozens to hundreds of butterflies in our habitat. The behaviors and actions of humans are far more destructive than a mantis. 

Do mantises really eat hummingbirds? Yes, they do because we make it easy for them to catch hummingbirds by putting out feeders! Mantises are clever and will perch themselves where the food comes to them. A hummingbird feeder is an ideal place for a mantis. An alternative is to plant lots of flowers hummingbirds like such as salvia, native honeysuckle, beebalm, tithonia, and cardinal flower.