Predator & Prey
Although insects are quickly disappearing, some remain active right up until hard frosts occur. These cold tolerant insects include an ambush bug which successfully caught a nectar-seeking butterfly on one of our warmer fall days.
As their name implies, ambush bugs ambush their prey by sitting motionless waiting for prey such as flies, small moths and butterflies, beetle larvae, and other true bugs to visit the plants they sit on. In this case, a Clouded (or possibly Orange) Sulphur butterfly failed to notice a Jagged Ambush Bug (Phymata sp.) which quickly grabbed its prey, delivered an injection of immobilizing and digestive fluid, and then drank the liquefying nutrients from the butterfly’s body. Ambush bugs have their mouthparts arranged into a single knife-like beak and as seen in this photograph, often capture insects much bigger than themselves.
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