> If small maniraptorans are thought to have leaped
> into the air against flying insects on the way to evolving flight,
Strikes me as an inefficient way to make a living.
Yes, I would agree. Seems like a tough way to make a living: leaping off
the ground to snatch flying insects out of the air. Plus, this would put
insect-catching theropods in competition with insect-catching pterosaurs,
which had a 70 mya headstart and the wings to show for it.
Still, I think it's within the realm of possibility - especially if the
insect-catching leaps were launched from trees rather than the ground. I
can imagine _Epidendrosaurus_ leaping from tree branches into the air to
snatch flying insects with its jaws, then continuing down to earth.
(Assuming, of course, that it was a parachuter or glider.) At least it had
gravity on its side in its insect-catching forays. Based on the published
description, _Epidendrosaurus_ has the short wide jaws associated with
snatching insects out of the air, also seen in modern birds and bats that
catch insects on the wing. Some pterosaurs (e.g., _Anurognathus_,
_Batrachognathus_) have this jaw morphology too.