Savage garden and an attack by a killer mantis.

A giant mantis dismantles its prey.

A white butterfly flutters gently on a pot plant decorating the fence line beside the tree nursery. It is rushing to fill the tank with carb-rich nectar. It’s dangerous to park here for too long. Something is amiss? The delicate wings are beating with too much urgency.

My tiny garden is a beautiful savage microcosm. The terrified butterfly is held in the death grip of a Praying Mantis. Two raptor arms encircle wings and abdomen. Pointy restraining attachments on the legs gouge the insect’s abdomen as it struggles to escape. Sharp teeth slice effortlessly through the brain and neck ending the brief resistance.

After five minutes of carnage, all that remains of the butterfly is a single surgically amputated winglet that escaped butchery, floating away on the gentle breeze.

Poor immigration control at the border is responsible.

According to Travis Wetland Nature Heritage Park, only two of the 24,000 mantis species are New Zealand residents. The grey-coloured mantis chomping through the butterfly is a native of South Africa. It was first discovered in Auckland in 1978. Since then, it has steadily moved south, displacing the New Zealand native as it goes.

On a sunny afternoon relaxing in suburban Rotorua, above the lake not far from the CBD, bad things happen in tiny gardens.