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Tag Archives: food chain

What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Basilisk Lizard eats Silk Moth Caterpillar in Costa Rica

UNNECESSARY CARNAGE
Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 5:55 AM
Hi Bugman,
This basilisk lizard is not a pet. While sitting out by the pond fishing, this female ran over and grabbed the poor caterpillar. It was right in front of me on the ground and I didn’t see it until she grabbed it and it was too late. Do you have any idea what kind of caterpillar it was? It took the lizard around ten minutes to scarf it down. She looked pretty satisfied after she ate her prize.
Jordan
Costa Rica

Basilisk Lizard eats Silk Moth Caterpillar

Basilisk Lizard eats Silk Moth Caterpillar

Hi Jordan,
This is far from unnecessary carnage. That section of our website is devoted to the hapless creatures that are squashed and swatted by humans out of ignorance. This Basilisk Lizard is dining on a Giant Silk Moth Caterpillar as part of the beautiful Food Chain cycle that dictates many creature must eat or be eaten. It is difficult to ascertain the exact species of the caterpillar from the camera angle, but we are relatively certain it is in the family Saturniidae.

Posted 18 March 2009 § Iguanas and Lizards § Silkworms ‡ Comments (2) ° Also tagged:

Robber Fly eats Bee in Australia

Robber eats bee foodchain
Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 11:34 PM
Hi guys,
This robberfly has caught itself a native bee. It is dull and windy here today with a cyclone off the coast so I took the flash with me and was quite pleased with the result. Hope you like it too.
aussietrev
Queensland, Australia

Robber Fly eats Bee

Robber Fly eats Bee

Hi Trevor,
Thanks for sending us a photo demonstrating your new technique. It looks like a studio portrait. We are a bit behind in our posting since we have embarked upon fulfilling a longtime desire to establish a home aquarium. This endeavor has occupied much of our free time since the cabinet needs to be stained and sealed before we can even begin to stock the aquarium with freshwater Amazon species.

Posted 10 March 2009 § Robber Flies ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Lynx Spider eats some Flies in Australia

Food Chain of Events
Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 9:50 PM
Hi guys,
It appears these two small flys were having an argument and didn’t notice the lynx spider coming to make a meal of both. One of the flys looks like a common long legged fly but the bright blue one is a new one for me. It appears to have two large forward facing eyes, reminiscent of a jumping spider, set into a metallic looking carapace. Strange one eh?
aussietrev
Queensland, Australia

Lynx Spider gets Two-fer

Lynx Spider gets Two-fer

Hi Trevor,
Your photos always amuse us.  This tangle of bodies is quite wonderful.  Seems as though the Spider got a double meal, though it is uncertain that is will suck the fluids from both flies.

Lynx Spider eats two flies

Lynx Spider eats two flies

Posted 06 March 2009 § Flies § Green Lynx ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Green Lynx Spider eats Carpenter Bee

Green Lynx with Bee
Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 10:42 AM
I found this photo from last August on my camera. Taken near Charlotte, NC.
This is a Green Lynx eating what I think is a Carpenter Bee.
It must be their favorite catch as there already is a picture of this on your site.
Great site,
Bob
Cornelius , NC, USA

Green Lynx eats Carpenter Bee

Green Lynx eats Carpenter Bee

Hi Bob,
Maybe you never had a chance to print your photo of a healthy female Green Lynx Spider feeding on a Carpenter Bee, but at least it is now online for the world to view.  Green Lynx spiders often wait for prey by perching on blossoms, so they eat many pollinating insects.

Posted 26 February 2009 § Green Lynx § Valley Carpenter Bee ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Assassin Bug Food Chain Scenario from Australia

Unknown Assassin with unknown wasp while mites hitch a ride (aussietrev)
Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 9:40 PM
Hi guys,
Found this tableau on a grass stem. The only thing I know ID for are the red mites on the assassin bug. Both the bug and the wasp are quite tiny. Any ideas anyone?
aussietrev
Queensland, Australia

Assassin Bug with prey and Mites

Assassin Bug with prey and Mites

Hi Trevor,
Sorry for the delay, but we have had a crazy busy week. While we agree with the Assassin Bug and Mites, we are unable to identify the species. We are not convinced the prey is a Wasp. It almost looks like another Hemipteran. We will see if Eric Eaton thinks Hemipteran or Hymenopteran.

Confirmation:
I agree with you, Daniel, the victim here is another hemipteran, something in the family Rhyparochromidae most likely.
Eric

Posted 06 February 2009 § Assassin Bugs § Mites ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Crab Spider Eats Skipper

misumenoides formosipes eats butterfly
Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 10:46 AM
Hi,
I found this crab spider at my aunt’s house in central Oklahoma last summer. I’m pretty sure it’s misumenoides formosipes, but I’m not positive. I hope you guys enjoy the pictures. Thanks for the great site!
Josh Kouri
Oklahoma City, Ok

Crab Spider eats Skipper

Crab Spider eats Skipper

Hi Josh,
We believe you have correctly identified your spider as Misumenoides formosipes, the White Banded Crab Spider.  This is a highly variable species and simply perusing some of the images submitted to BugGuide will reveal the many color variations.  It is not true that Crab Spiders can change their coloration with their surroundings.  What is more likely is that the offspring that match the color of the surroundings are more likely to survive to adulthood.  At any rate, your photo nicely illustrates how closely a Crab Spider is capable of matching its surroundings, and how effective this is in capturing prey.  It appears the butterfly in your photo is a Skipper.

Crab Spider

Crab Spider

Posted 06 February 2009 § Crab Spiders ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Golden Web Spider eats Cicada in Singapore

nephilla spider eating cicada
Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 5:56 PM
I took this picture of a nephilla spider eating a cicada at a nature reserve.The spider was at least 10 cm from mouth to the tip of its abdomen.
curious
singapore

Golden Web Spider

Golden Web Spider

Dear Curious,
Normally we would be reluctant to try to identify which species of Golden Silk Spider you have photographed, but we suspect it is Nephila pilipes, The Golden Web Spider, which is a common species in Singapore. There is a website of Common Singapore Spiders based on a guide book by Joseph K H Koh that depicts this spider. Golden Silk Spiders in the genus Nephila have extremely strong silk in their webs and are known to catch small birds.  Your photo clearly shows the golden color of the silk.

Posted 05 February 2009 § Orb Weavers ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Unknown Predatory Red Hemipteran Nymphs feeding on Imbrasia wahlbergi Caterpillar in South Africa

Unidentified predatory red bug/beetle
Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 3:29 AM
This bug (beetle?) appeared about five years ago in our rural, coastal area (Cintsa, East London, South Africa) and has been terrorizing the undergrowth ever since. Individuals patrol paths and garden areas, seeking prey. Groups participate in the kill, biting or stinging the victim repeatedly until it stops moving. They will then sit on the prey, presumably feeding, sometimes for the rest of the day. They have been observed attacking and feeding on centipedes, spiders and caterpillars (particularly the large black caterpillars that feed on African plum trees – see image).
They are red/orange with darker areas around where wings should be. They appear to have a pointed snout. We have observed them clustering under cover in larger groups overnight.
Dave Roberts
Cintsa, East London, South Africa

Unknown Predatory Hemipteran Nymph

Unknown Predatory Hemipteran Nymph

Hi Dave,
You just made us late for work. We really wanted to identify your predatory red Hemipteran nymphs as well as the Saturniid Caterpillar they are feeding upon, but our internet connection is so slow right now, we need more time. We are posting this as unidentified right now, but we are confident we will be able to assist you in a proper identification either alone or with the assistance of our readership. The Hemipterans don’t look like Assassin Bugs, which would be a likely candidate.

Predatory Hemipterans feed on Saturniid Caterpillar

Predatory Hemipterans feed on Saturniid Caterpillar

Update:Predatory Red Hemipteran Nymphs feeding on Unknown Saturniid Caterpillar
Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 2:20 PM
Hi Daniel:
I think the predatory bugs are probably immature assassin bugs of some kind, but I am out on a limb even with that. The Saturniid caterpillar looks like Imbrasia wahlbergi . An adult of this spectacular species appeared on WTB previously (Saturniid Moth from South Africa: Imbrasia wahlbergi – May 7th, 2007). Regards.
Karl

Thanks for the ID on the Imbrasia wahlbergi Caterpillar Karl. As we wrote to Dave this morning, we were running late for work. As things played out, we got to LACC to teach about 6 minutes before class started. We were going to search the World’s Greatest Saturniidae Site which contains the Kirby Wolfe link you provided. We will have to spend some time researching the Hemipteran nymphs now. They behave like Assassin Bugs, but don’t look like Assassin Bugs. Perhaps they are Predatory Stink Bugs, but they don’t look like Stink Bugs either. They actually resemble plant eating Hemipterans. We have run several images in the past of social feeding Assassin Bugs that feed on Millipedes, Ectrichodia crux, but these individuals look different if our memory serves us correctly.

Update from Eric Eaton
Sayturday, January 10, 2009
The hemipterans are likely in the family Lygaeidae. Many (most?) of the Heteroptera are opportunistic scavengers or predators. I once saw two small milkweed bugs feeding on a dead honeybee, for example. But, the bugs in the image are nymphs, so no way to be certain for sure (though I think it is safe to rule out assassin bugs).
Eric

Update from Dave:  January 11, 2009
Thanks, bug masters! Apologies for the omission of some info. Length is around 8-12mm, and it was a millipede they were eating, not a centipede. The millipede assassin bugs look pretty close, but they’re a little too red, and the bugs in question don’t have the third black spot on their back. I think you nailed the caterpillar – thanks again.
I’ll get the search going to find the adults.

Posted 09 January 2009 § Silkworms § True Bugs ‡ Comments (1) ° Also tagged:

Crab Spider eats unknown Moth in South Africa

Poor guy
Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 8:22 AM
Any idea for either the moth or spider?
Photographed in the Langeberg Range in South Africa in montane fynbos ecosystem. Photo is attached
Brett
Langeberg Range in South Africa

Crab Spider catches Moth

Crab Spider catches Moth

Hi again Brett,
We haven’t a clue about the moth, but the spider is a Crab Spider in the family Thomisidae. Crab Spiders don’t build webs, and many species sit camouflaged in flowers awaiting pollinating insects.

Update: Crab Spider eats unknown Moth in South Africa
Tue, Jan 6, 2009
Hi Daniel:
I can’t resist a twofer. The photo provides only a partial underside view of the moth, which looks like a Geometrid to me. Unfortunately, from the perspective of providing an identification, West Cape Province has over a 100 species of Geometridae and South Africa as a whole apparently has over 1000 species, most of them dressed in cryptic grays and sepias. The spider is indeed in the Thomisidae family, likely a flower crab spider in the genus Thomisus , of which there are at least 15 to choose from. The closest match I could find was T. citrinellus . Regards.
Karl

Posted 07 January 2009 § Crab Spiders § Moths ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Water Scorpions eat Damselfly Naiad

water scorpions share meal
Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 10:49 AM
Hi,
I thought you guys might like this picture I took last year. Over the summer I raised several water scorpions, and these are two of them. They were both eating the same damselfly larva at the same time. I thought that this was a rare moment and snapped several shots. I later realized that the darker one had little egg pouches, or mites of some kind on one of its legs, and that there is another damselfly larva on the lighter one’s back. I hope you guys enjoy this image. Thanks again for the awesome site.
Josh Kouri
Oklahoma

Water Scorpions eat Damselfly Naiad

Water Scorpions eat Damselfly Naiad

Hi again Josh,
Thanks for the interesting image of two Water Scorpions feeding on a Damselfly Naiad.  It will be an excellent addition to our Food Chain section.  We took the liberty of adding Oklahoma to your posting as you did not submit your letter using our new form that requires a location.  Adding the location requirement to our online form has saved us the bother of writing back for a location.  Please include a location in any future letters.

Posted 07 January 2009 § Dragonflies and Damselflies § Toe Biters ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Meat Ants devour Scarab Beetle in Australia

Food Chain Meat ants v Scarab beetle
Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 9:37 PM
Our Australian meat ants, Iridomyrmex purpereus, are omnivorous and quite as happy eating the flowers off my zucchinis as any hapless critter that stays still long enough. Farmers will sometimes use a nest as a disposal system for animal carcasses. A nest may have around 85000 ants and they can reduce a full size cow to just bones in about three days. Their bite does not sting but they will chomp on you if you are in their way in bare feet.. This scarab beetle, Exochogenys nigripennisare, will be little more than a snack.
aussietrev
Queensland, Australia although widespread

Meat Ants devour Scarab Beetle in Australia

Meat Ants devour Scarab Beetle in Australia

Wow Trevor,
Thanks for the exciting documentation of the Australian Meat Ants and the Scarab which you have identified as Exochogenys nigripennis.

Posted 11 December 2008 § Ants § Scarab Beetles ‡ Comments (0) ° Also tagged:

Unknown Cricket Parasite is a Fly

Eerie Cricket Thingy
Sat, Nov 8, 2008 at 11:07 AM
Yesterday a mysterious reddish-brown pill shaped object suddenly began emerging from the underside of one of our pet crickets. Looks like some sort of egg, but from what we can tell, cricket eggs don’t look like this. The cricket seemed healthy before this emerged, and was alive for a while when it first appeared, but now is dead. Could it be that some other insect such as a wasp laid its eggs inside the cricket as a host? I’ve heard of them doing this to caterpillars, but crickets? Or is it something else?
Paul and Stella
Los Angeles

Unknown Cricket Parasite: Tachinid Fly???

Unknown Cricket Parasite: Tachinid Fly???

Hi Paul and Stella,
This is a new one for us and we will need to do some research. We will also try to contact Eric Eaton to see if he has an opinion. We, like you, suspect this is some type of internal parasite that has had its meal and is perhaps pupating outside the cricket’s body. It would be interesting to see what, if anything, eventually emerges. If we were betting, we would bet on a Tachinid Fly. Moments after we posted, we found an online article on a Tachinid Fly, Ormia ochracea, that parasitizes crickets.

Unknown Cricket Parasite: Tachinid Fly???

Unknown Cricket Parasite: Tachinid Fly???

Hi, Daniel:
The object protruding from the deceased cricket is indeed a fly puparium (the rigid last larval ’skin’ enclosing a fly pupa). It could certainly be a tachinid fly, but there are also other flies that are parasitic on crickets, especially some members of the flesh fly family (Sarcophagidae). I’d personally be hard-pressed to identify even the adult fly once it emerges, though a dipterist (fly expert) could.
Eric

Posted 09 November 2008 § Crickets, Camel Crickets and Mole Crickets § Tachinid Flies ‡ Comments (1) ° Also tagged:

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