neville parkWent cicada-ing among the big willows down by the lake last night and was gloriously rewarded!
These are dog day cicadas, _Neotibicen canicularis_.
But not every cicada emerges successfully. My first find was this partially emerged cicada being rapaciously devoured by the big carpenter ants (_Camponotus_) that also live in the willows. They were carrying away great hunks of meat in their jaws. Seeing this, I was surprised that any cicadas managed to molt successfully at all!
#bugstodon #insects #cicadas #ants #predation #Hemiptera #Cicadidae #Hymenoptera #Formicidae
Albert Cardona@nev
Wow what a scene. Moulting renders insects vulnerable. A while back I witnessed how a hornet Vespula germanica chewed on the soft wings of a moulting Egyptian bird grasshoper, Anacridium aegyptium http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/91574142
I too wonder why insects have such a weak point. Only social insects, who protect each other, are spared. Others have to dig themselves into crevices, like solitary bees, yet are still subject to predation.
#iNaturalist #Hymenoptera #Orthoptera #predation #entomology #insects #locusts #wasps #wasplove
@albertcardona I've seen a red velvet mite predating a molting crab spider!
Some spiders hang from a thread of silk which reduces the risk somewhat (though not if they're on a tree trunk as I often see happening). Others make a thick silk bag they enclose themselves in.