bladesofgrass
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Spider with dragonfly prey:
Termite soldiers guarding nest entrance:
A lek of stalk eyed flies (Diopsidae):
Colourful katydid in the bushes:
Weaver ant-mimicking crab spider (Amyciaea sp.):
Small worlds... Crab spider with camponotus ant prey, along with commensal Nomatocerans and a kelptoparasitic spider:
Zodariid spider with camponotus ant prey:
Leaf galls are essentially an accumulation of plant tissues resulting from a parasitic infection which has commandeered the plant's genetics in order to subvert normal leaf structures into an external wall filled with nutritious materials for the growing parasite. Backlighting shows that much like a cancer, there is an increased vascularization surrounding the galls.
Hyperparasitoid wasp (Eurytomidae) atop wasp pupae (Cotesia sp.?):
You'd be forgiven for thinking that this was simply a chalcid wasp emerging from a parasitized caterpillar. In fact it goes one level deeper. This is a hyperparasitoid chalcid which can be seen here ovipositing into the pupae of the already parasitized caterpillar. It is quite a tenacious thing too. Despite the caterpillar falling from a branch to the ground below, the wasp remained firmly attached.
Oviposition:
Tortoise beetle on backlit leaf:
Venomous twig snake (Thelotornis capensis):
Silver Polyrhachis ant:
Thanks for looking and commenting,
Paul
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