An Amblyopone oregonensis huntress delivers a paralyzing dose of venom to a centipede. This lets the ant larvae consume it alive later, at their leisure. Ow. Ow, Ow. Yes, that is the stinger you see, sunk deep into the head.
A cricket is impaled on the mandibles of a Malagasy trap-jaw ant, Odontomachus coquereli. That's gotta hurt.
Mantids don't wait for their prey to expire before they tear them to pieces.
An aphid receives the egg of a braconid wasp (Aphidius ervi).
But that's probably better than getting your innards suddenly schlorped out by a syrphid fly larva.
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Odontomachus meinerti trap-jaw ant, Argentina
One perk of being at a research university is the opportunity to shoot the various study organisms on campus. These subjects are interesting- they have to be, or they wouldn't be studied- and when the research goes public I get the chance to…
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Great shots...that must be some great feeling when you got the first and the fourth shots. I wish i had more candidates around here to get some like these.
The wasp shot wasn't actually that bad. Their behavior is predictable enough that if you watch them at work for a bit you'll be able to anticipate oviposition, and the event itself lasts long enough (maybe a second?) to stand a good chance of getting it.
Awesome! added to my RSS, can't wait to see more.
Amblyopone in action is quite impressive. It takes a lot of moxie to be a specialist predator on centipedes!
I've seen a mantid take a monarch butterfly in flight. I was watching the butterfly come in for a landing on a milkweed flower, when suddenly it seemed to flap itself inside out and hang motionless in midair. A big mantid had been perched on the plant, parallel to the stem, and it grabbed the butterfly before the latter had a chance to touch down.
Also saw a mantid hang out on a thistle plant and grab a nectaring bumble bee. Zorak is a mighty hunter!
Awesome shots!! Hopefully I will be able to get some great mantis feeding shot's soon.
Well alex, perhaps you should watch the cat with the mouse (and other predator mammals) more frequently before expressing such 'rather not be' statements!
Most predatory mammals aren't that bothered about checking for a pulse before they chow down either.
What's all this talk about mammals? Boooooooooooooring.........
In my opinion the largest threat for California are cataclysms and ecological catastrophes. Not important is how many money we have because one tragedy can us take all.
Mantids don't wait for their prey to expire before they tear them to pieces.
Most predatory mammals aren't that bothered about checking for a pulse before they chow down either.
thanks..