The other day I showed the Shieldbug Picromerus bidens, which are predatory on caterpillars. This shot shows a sawfly larva being consumed tail-first by another specimen. The larva is about 3 cm. long and is suspended from the proboscis of the Shield Bug.
The original shot is much higher quality, but for some reason (speed?) Blogger always drops the quality of images.
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4 comments:
A great capture Stuart. I have seen a few shield bugs around here but had no idea what they ate.
Yikes, and there I was under the impression that all shield bugs were herbivores...great behaviour shot
What stops the larva dropping to the ground? Is the proboscis hooked or something?
Shame about the pixellating, I wonder why they do that? I've never noticed it so much before.
I think the proboscis splits at the tip and hooks both left and right.
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