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
(cc @futurebird for _Camponotus_ having a good time)
myrmepropagandist@nev Yeah... they can be a little harsh like that. Well at least the girls had a good day... if not the cicada.
@futurebird they are the undisputed rulers of that patch of willows!
I also saw the biggest _Camponotus_ I've ever seen, like "I didn't know ants got this big in Canada" big. A queen? (Pointer finger for scale.)
Yes! That is a de-alate queen. She has mated and thus removed her wings and is currently looking for a place to live. If you see such a queen you can catch her and have a pet colony. With such a big robust colony already in the area it would also help her to maybe get relocated to a different old tree. (If her sisters find here they will not be kind anymore-- she's probably from the big colony that's already there...)
@futurebird thanks! This was in a different area. She seemed like she was pretty busy (it was hard even getting a photo of her) so I let her do her thing.