Regular Mark Sturtevant has stepped up with another batch of arthropod photos today (it includesw one bird). Mark’s captions are indented, and you can enlarge them by clicking on the link. But please send in your photos, as we are nearly out.
Most of the subjects were photographed from area parks near where I live, which is in eastern Michigan. A couple were photographed in staged shots on the trusty dining room table.
First up is a green Assassin Bug, Zelus luridus. These are common, but this one was very moribund and had an abnormally distended abdomen. I can only assume it was either infected or parasitized.
Next are a couple beetles. I have lately become interested in Ladybird Beetles that are not the goddamn super common introduced Asian Ladybird, but other species that are harder to find. But here is a new species for me, the Fourteen-spotted Ladybird Beetle, Propylea quatuordecimpunctata (!):
Next up is a pair of Flower Longhorn Beetles, Typocerus velutinus:
I could not identify the wasp shown in the next picture, but the good folks at BugGuide surprised me by identifying it as a Sawfly, Tenthredo grandis. I did not know that these could be carnivorous, but here it is eating an insect:
A few spiders follow. Here is an unidentified Flower Crab Spider feeding on a Syrphid Fly. I don’t have the pictures that would help me to identify either the spider or the prey:
The next spider I know quite well. This is a Sixspotted Orbweaver, Araniella displicata, which is an interesting little spider that seems to always build a small orb web across the face of a curled leaf:
Another unidentified spider is shown next. This is a recently hatched Jumping Spider, and it was super tiny and very cute! I had to use the super macro lens at about 5x to get the picture:
Many Jumping Spiders live on our shed, and about once or twice a year I find one of their mortal enemies on the shed as well. This very weird insect is a Mantidfly, specifically Say’s Mantidfly, Dicromantispa sayi. Mantidflies are related to Lacewings and Antlions, and their larvae grow as parasites within the egg sacs of spiders. This particular species is known to go after the egg sacs of Jumping Spiders, hence they can turn up on the shed, but they will also make use of other spider hosts as well. Mantidflies are very odd-looking, and their convergent evolution on Praying Mantids is obvious:
And finally, here is a rare-for-me vertebrate. I was visiting a new park, and this impressive Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) was clearly expecting that I would feed it:
Lovely – even the rant! 😆
Very cool. It’s amazing how complex and adaptable the insects are—such fantastical appendages and mouthparts (also modified appendages) in such small packages. It’s no wonder that they are among life’s greatest success stories.*
*except for yellow jackets, which are bad.
Thank you for this post Mark. It is a great opportunity for me to see insects so close up and have an explanation of them. I very much appreciate your posts. These insects are stunning. I’m amazed by the convergent evolution of the Mantidflies and Praying Mantids.
Always great to see Mark’s pictures. Of course, I’m biased in favor of spiders, but they’re all great…even the bird.
Awww, I thought the opposite!
Just kidding – the arthropod photos are fantastic as always.
+1
The macro photo of the newly hatched jumping spider is beautiful.
Note, the photos of the Fourteen-spotted Ladybird Beetle and the pair of Flower Longhorn Beetles appear to be swapped.
Thank you for these great shots! That Mantidfly is amazing!