Sunday 30 August 2009

Who would be a sawfly?

Each time I look at the Nematus pavidus larvae I seem to see a different predator. This Flower Bug - Anthocoris nemorum - wandered into the area of leaf where the sawfly larvae were feeding, picked up this specimen and carried it to the edge of the leaf where it began to consume it.


The area of leaf shown is about 8 mm x 6 mm.

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I update my species list in batches: it's more convenient that way. During yesterday's update, the list passed a new milestone: I now have 1302 species on the list, 7 of which are new to Ireland and dozens are new to Co. Donegal.

2 comments:

Gill said...

1302! Well done!.
I wonder if that larva that's being eaten is a parasitised one, or whether the bug doesn't care one way or the other?

Stuart said...

I don't think they'd bother too much either way. Bugs seem to be very wasteful, taking just a small part and leaving a large percentage of the corpse.