Hungry Mantid Nymphs
Location: Toledo, OH
June 17, 2011 8:41 am
For some reason, my mother’s house is always a mantis paradise. I think they’re amazing little critters and love to come over and watch them! The nymphs (Well, these guys might be a little to old to be called nymphs now, I’m not sure) were all over the place yesterday, and I was able to snap a few photos of the little guys. They were all a little less then a centimeter long! Hope you enjoy.
Signature: Katy
Mantis Nymph Eating
Dear KAty,
Your photo of a Preying Mantis Nymph eating a Fly is a nice addition to our Food Chain section.
Preying Mantis Nymph
Never seen in 36 years
Location: Vancouver BC Canada
June 16, 2011 6:52 pm
I thought I’d seen all the spiders in my yard, but apparently not. I have seen a few of these in the last couple of days and was wondering what they were. Btw my most unfavorite spiders in my house/yard are the giant house spiders, man are they fast!
Signature: Shawn B
Jumping Spider eats Moth
Dear Shawn,
This is a Jumping Spider in the genus Phidippus. Many species in the genus are highly variable in color and many species look similar. Here is a photo that looks close from BugGuide. Jumping Spiders do not make a snare to capture prey. They are hunting spiders that jump great distances. They have excellent eyesight. They will follow the movements of a human observer. This poor individual pictured on BugGuide looks as though it didn’t survive its human encounter.
dragon eats damsel
Jun 8, 2011
Hey there, bug-nuts!
I was just out photographing damsel and dragonflies when this happened:
A Midland Clubtail dragonfly came whipping by and took down an Ebony Jewelwing damselfy right next to me! The Jewelwings frequently pick mosquitos out of the air around me, but this is the first time I’ve seen this particular predator become prey. Very exciting!
I guess this is what happens to the damsel if the knight doesn’t get to the dragon in time. Ha!
Don D
St.Augusta, MN
Midland Clubtail eats Ebony Jewelwing
Dear Don,
PHotos of Dragonflies eating Damselflies or Dragonflies eating other Dragonflies are always an exciting treat. These top of the food chain insect predators will eat just about anything they can catch.
Scorpion Eats Some Dinner
Location: El Paso, TX
June 1, 2011 4:14 am
I would like to share some neat pictures with you and the readers. This scorpion was right outside the back door. I went out with the dogs a little later to keep them away, though I expected it to have wandered off by then. So it was quite a site to see it had caught a roach! I have never seen a scorpion with a fresh catch, so in true nerd fashion, I took lots of pictures and some video. It’s gruesome, but interesting! Hope you enjoy!
Signature: Jen
Scorpion eats Cockroach
Hi Jen,
Thanks so much for sending your marvelous photos of a Scorpion feeding on a Cockroach. We try to encourage our readership to allow predatory species like spiders, solifugids and house centipedes to live in and near their homes as a means of keeping noxious species like cockroaches at bay, but we are never sure how effective we are. Your photos are definitely worth thousands of words.
Scorpion eats Cockroach
Cannibalistic Dragonfly
Location: Bradenton, Florida
May 23, 2011 1:46 pm
Good Afternoon! Huge fan of your site, thank you so much! Spotted these dragonflies ”flying” together, it was only after I got close and heard the crunching and noticed that one was headless that I realized one was eating the other. Gross but cool photo – thought you might like to have it.
Signature: Linda Lamp
Dragonfly Cannibalism
Dear Linda,
Thank you so much for sending us your awesome images documenting Dragonfly cannibalism. We must admit we are a bit challenged with Dragonfly species identification. Perhaps our readership will be able to provide the names of the two individuals in this photo. We believe the predator may be one of the Mosaic Darners in the genus Aeshna (see BugGuide) and the prey may be a Skimmer.
Dragonfly Cannibalism
Update: May 24, 2011
We were in such a rush to get to work yesterday, we compiled this posting in a hurry, and in retrospect, we believe this second photo might make species identification easier as the wing veination is more evident.
Early Worm Gets the Bird
Location: S. Illinois
May 11, 2011 5:56 pm
The first Cicada of the season gets got by a Brown Thrasher.
Not sure if this is an annual or periodical cicada, we’re due for Brood XIX 13 year periodicals any time now.
Signature: Bert
Brown Thrasher eating something
Hi Bert,
The insect in your photo appears to have mandibles for chewing, unlike the piercing and sucking mouthparts of a Cicada. We would be more inclined to identify the prey in this photo as a Beetle Grub.
Pretty sure it is a Cicada nymph, and what you’re seeing as mandibles is actually one of the weird clamp-claws that cicada nymphs have. Also, the color is more consistent with a cicada nymph than with most beetle grubs.
Hi Again Bert,
Thanks for the clarification. Photos can be quite deceptive, and you were the actual observer and you know what a Cicada looks like. Thanks again for sending us your wonderful photograph.
¶ Posted 12 May 2011 § BIRDS ‡ ° Also tagged: Ed. Note: Clipping from the Youngstown Vindicator
A consultant from Ohio mailed us this informative article that documents the search for a natural predator that can help control the invasive exotic Brown Marmorated Stink Bug that we receive so many identification request regarding. Clicking on the image will expand it in a new window.
Youngstown Vindicator news clipping
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