There are many reasons why honey bees don't come home at night.

One of them: a stealthy praying mantis.

If you like to photograph flowers, odds are that some day you'll see more than one insect on a blossom. 

Look closely and you may see a praying mantis peering over the petals, watching a bee's every move.

It's not like a proud parent watching an offspring perform at a dance recital or lead a marching band or pitch in a Little League game. The look is fiercely intense, but for a different reason.

Hunger.

Such was the case yesterday at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road at the University of California, Davis.

A honey bee nectaring on a zinnia turned to poke its proboscis deeper into the blossom, unaware of a hidden predator silently emerging from its stakeout.

Breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Late night snack?

Not this time. The honey bee sighted the mantid and quickly buzzed off.