A wasp, spider, fly, and weevil walk into a bar...
Dec 17, 2016 11:07:36 #
Here are some more pictures.
1. This odd wasp was very hard to identify. It seems to be the five-banded tiphiid wasp (Myzinum quinquecinctum), and if so then it is a parasitoid of scarabeid beetles like June bugs. She was so clumsy as she was feeding from the flowers that I wondered if she could even fly.
2. The spiny backed orbweaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis) is very widespread in the U.S., but I have only seen one where I live (Michigan). Very common out east, which is where I found this one. They are so dang awkward in their weight distribution that I had no luck getting a picture of one in the 'proper' orientation, which is from the dorsal aspect as shown here: http://bugguide.net/node/view/1305873/bgimage . But they are weird-looking from any angle.
3. I had a lot of fun taking pictures of this very entertaining stilt-legged fly (possibly Rainieria antennaepes), strutting around on a forest leaf. Back and forth it marched, waiving its flashy front legs. It stuck to its display without pause even when I bumped the leaf to hunker down closer. My inquiries into what it was up to soon showed that I had stumbled upon a very interesting story. First, the waving front legs probably helps it to mimic small Ichneumon wasps, which often walk around waving similarly marked antennae. Flies in this family (and in most fly families) have very short antennae, and so the flies cleverly use their legs to fool one into thinking that they have long antennae, and therefore this must be a wasp. Actually, a lot of other kinds of wasp-mimicking flies do this trick. But in addition to pretending to be a wasp, this fly seems to also be communicating its presence to its own kind, and that could be why it was so intent in its behavior. My impression from this display was that maybe this one was a male, but other pictures I had taken showed that this was a female. According to this short documentary about a tropical species of these kinds of flies, both sexes spend a lot of time doing this kind of display:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfs_zghsQTA&feature=youtu.be . I highly recommend this documentary. Although it is old, I was very much impressed by the charming and intimate narration done by a researcher who studied them. It is inspiring, I think, to be shown that our little arthropod subjects have a lot going on. There are also some funny bits.
4. Finally, these pretty little weevils (possibly Polydrusus formosus) are common in our local forests. Notice the sharp mandibles.
1. This odd wasp was very hard to identify. It seems to be the five-banded tiphiid wasp (Myzinum quinquecinctum), and if so then it is a parasitoid of scarabeid beetles like June bugs. She was so clumsy as she was feeding from the flowers that I wondered if she could even fly.
2. The spiny backed orbweaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis) is very widespread in the U.S., but I have only seen one where I live (Michigan). Very common out east, which is where I found this one. They are so dang awkward in their weight distribution that I had no luck getting a picture of one in the 'proper' orientation, which is from the dorsal aspect as shown here: http://bugguide.net/node/view/1305873/bgimage . But they are weird-looking from any angle.
3. I had a lot of fun taking pictures of this very entertaining stilt-legged fly (possibly Rainieria antennaepes), strutting around on a forest leaf. Back and forth it marched, waiving its flashy front legs. It stuck to its display without pause even when I bumped the leaf to hunker down closer. My inquiries into what it was up to soon showed that I had stumbled upon a very interesting story. First, the waving front legs probably helps it to mimic small Ichneumon wasps, which often walk around waving similarly marked antennae. Flies in this family (and in most fly families) have very short antennae, and so the flies cleverly use their legs to fool one into thinking that they have long antennae, and therefore this must be a wasp. Actually, a lot of other kinds of wasp-mimicking flies do this trick. But in addition to pretending to be a wasp, this fly seems to also be communicating its presence to its own kind, and that could be why it was so intent in its behavior. My impression from this display was that maybe this one was a male, but other pictures I had taken showed that this was a female. According to this short documentary about a tropical species of these kinds of flies, both sexes spend a lot of time doing this kind of display:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfs_zghsQTA&feature=youtu.be . I highly recommend this documentary. Although it is old, I was very much impressed by the charming and intimate narration done by a researcher who studied them. It is inspiring, I think, to be shown that our little arthropod subjects have a lot going on. There are also some funny bits.
4. Finally, these pretty little weevils (possibly Polydrusus formosus) are common in our local forests. Notice the sharp mandibles.
5-banded tiphiid
(Download)
spiny backed orbweaver
(Download)
stilt-legged fly
(Download)
weevil
(Download)
Dec 17, 2016 11:13:45 #
Dec 17, 2016 11:17:42 #
Sounds like a fun day in the woods--but isn't it too cold for bugs today in Michigan?
Dec 17, 2016 12:13:25 #
LoneRangeFinder wrote:
About 6" of snow outside right now, and maybe more on the way. My posts are from a back-log of pictures that I have.but isn't it too cold for bugs today in Michigan?
Dec 17, 2016 12:23:15 #
Dec 17, 2016 12:52:40 #
Mark Sturtevant wrote:
Ahhh. It's 20s here with high humidity and wind. I'm cold even though it's not that cold. Lol.About 6" of snow outside right now, and maybe more on the way. My posts are from a back-log of pictures that I have.
Dec 17, 2016 20:31:59 #
Dec 17, 2016 21:16:25 #
Mark Sturtevant wrote:
WOW! I love this PoV. I have photographed Spiny Backed orbweavers, but never thought about a profile view. Looks like a completely different spider. Well done!The spiny backed orbweaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis) . . . I had no luck getting a picture of one in the 'proper' orientation.
Dec 18, 2016 05:07:59 #
Nice photos, I enjoyed the interesting video on the fly which was professionally filmed and presented, thanks.
Dec 18, 2016 09:34:26 #
Dec 18, 2016 14:26:34 #
Nikonian72 wrote:
Actually, I had no choice, given the way they tend to hang in the web, at least when I find them. ... but never thought about a profile view. Looks like a completely different spider.
One can get an anecdotal idea about how people deal with this or that species by looking at the various pictures in BugGuide. There, ALL the pictures of this species from the dorsal aspect are either with the spider on the ground, OR if they are in the web the photographer is apparently lying on their back shooting straight up. In those cases the pix are not very good.
Dec 18, 2016 19:00:16 #
Mark Sturtevant wrote:
Here are my Spiney Backed orbweavers from a few years back. Positioning camera/lens for a controlled background was the most difficult part of this shoot.Actually, I had no choice, given the way they tend to hang in the web, at least when I find them.
Dec 19, 2016 16:44:27 #
Excellent photos, Mark. They were made even more enjoyable with the background info you included about each. I never would have imagined a fly could be so interesting before watching that video. Thank you!
Dec 19, 2016 17:58:18 #
Nikonian72 wrote:
Excellent series Douglass. Superior detail. Nice work. -DocHere are my Spiney Backed orbweavers from a few years back. Positioning camera/lens for a controlled background was the most difficult part of this shoot.
Dec 19, 2016 19:43:44 #
Nikonian72 wrote:
I wish they were more common in my patch. Your pix show some of the color variations they have. I had read that the yellow ones are more common down South.Here are my Spiney Backed orbweavers from a few years back. Positioning camera/lens for a controlled background was the most difficult part of this shoot.
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