Robber Fly Meal

When Steve took this photo, he noted (with a hint of glee?) that the head of the green-eyed prey of the much larger robber fly kept moving around the whole time it was being eaten. I know we make jokes about rare steak still mooing and all that, but really, that's taking it too far.

I don't know which is worse: simply gobbling up your prey, or jamming your tongue into it and siphoning off its innards. I think I'd prefer to be eaten outright. I don't know why I'm even considering either scenario, since most human robbers simply want my stuff, and they rarely intend to eat or imbibe me.

Thanks for the photo, Steve.

Of Waterbugs, Slurping, and Rostrums

What is this? Tell me what it is! Is it a waterbug? How afraid do I need to be?

If it is a waterbug, then it can be one of any 2,000 species found the world over (save for the poles, of course). Some waterbugs feed are predatory and feed on everything from invertebrates to small fish and amphibians. Others are omnivores, and still others feed on plants.

Many are equipped with rostrums, which are useful in being able to slurp out the innards of their chosen prey. Others, like water boatmen, are able to chew their food a bit and suck up the resulting pulp. Yummy, yummy. I'm suddenly very glad to have teeth, and that most of my slurping involves cold, sugary drinks.

Photo courtesy: Team Ali Baba

Fly Mating Ignorance

This is a family-friendly blog, so I'll spare the many, many comments that can be had at these flies' expense. Suffice it to say that Steve caught them in the act of mating, and that the one on the bottom (I presume the female) was blowing spit bubbles that the one on top (the male?) was eating.

What in the world could that be? There's so little I know about fly mating, and I don't know if I'd have it any other way.

Thanks for the photo, Steve.

Giving Up Gluttony

Sometimes caterpillars come with such amazing shapes and colors and spines and fur and toxins and appetites that I wonder why they even bother becoming butterflies. Why give up a life of carefree gluttony for flight and nectar and mating?

I think that is a question best answered by the poets among us. It's an answer a lot of our refuse-to-leave-the-nest youth (and not so young) don't want to hear.

Your Master, Atherix Ibis

Photo source: Fabrice Parais via Popular Science
Behold your new master. Behold his face and be afraid, behold his arms, outstretched to welcome his new subjects.

Or, look at the hind end of a watersnipe fly larvae (Atherix ibis). The presence of these tiny freshwater creatures are actually good indicators of overall water quality. They have nothing to do with world dominance -- yet.

Thanks for the photo, Ida.

Cicada Grimace

Cicadas are no stranger to Ugly Overload, but I love this angle. You can see the split back of the juvenile's exoskeleton, and the remnants of its grimace as its adult form tries to pull itself loose of its former shell. The night is about to become alive with its incessant trilling.

Thanks for the cicada, Kitty.

Photo source: Huffington Post

To Defoliate an Automobile

What do you do if you're an ermine moth larvae and you and your horde have run out of trees to defoliate? If you're in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, you turn to automobiles.

This is the scene the Dutch woke up to one late Spring day. They immediately thought they were under siege by a giant spider. They were relieved to find that they had instead been descended upon by caterpillars. The webbing is meant to protect the caterpillars while they feast and then pupate.

Sidenote: Much to my relief, no cars were defoliated in the making of these webs.

Thanks for the link, Mike.

Photo source: NGM Blog Central

Nightmare Composed

Photo source: Afri

Scale me down to the size of one of the spider's pedipalps and insert me into this scene, and you've composed my worst nightmare (well, monster-oriented nightmare).

Thanks, Alan. You've ruined another night's sleep.

Mitey Ants

Brian's compost heap is the scene of much ant-based drama. Here we have an ant beset by a herd of mites. Whether the mites are just along for the ride (benign phoresy) or feeding off the ant, I don't know.

Photo source: Brian Valentine




















But the ants know how to take care of themselves. Here we have a pair grooming and de-miting one another. I imagine the ants have to work fast; the mites probably hop right back on if you're not quick enough -- kind of like trying to peel a toddler off your lower legs when she's got it in her mind that you've got candy she wants. Peel and run.

Photo source: Brian Valentine

Logan the Fly

I always thought that a fly's face looks like a baseball being pulled apart at the seams. In fact, I get so distractd by that split and those eyes and that mouth that I've failed to notice the fly's sideburns. Shame on me.

So Steve named this fly Logan (of Wolverine fame, for you non-nerds). Aptly named, though I don't Logan vomits on his food to soften it up before he slurps up the slurry. Though, if Wolverine were to combine his healing powers and adamantine skeleton with the additional mutant power of projectile acid vomiting, he'd be next to unstoppable. Though, the movies might draw a smaller crowd. That's a trade off Marvel might want to look into.

Photo source: Steve Begin