Mary's Monday Metazoan: Reavers!

Acanthaspis petax, a type of assassin bug, stacks dead ant bodies on its back to confuse predators. Photo by Mohd Rizal Ismail Acanthaspis petax, a type of assassin bug, stacks dead ant bodies on its back to confuse predators. Photo by Mohd Rizal Ismail
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The animal world is full of harmless liars, who mimic species more dangerous than themselves in order to avoid the attention of predators. But none do it quite like the dark-footed ant-spider Myrmarachne melanotarsa. As its name suggests, this small species of jumping spider, discovered just nine…
tags: Wheel Bug, Arilus cristatus, Image of the Day Wheel Bug, Arilus cristatus, a late-instar nymph. [Here are a couple pictures of] the Wheel Bug, also taken in the last week. The critter (a member of the Assassin Bug family, Reduviidae) is named for the gear-wheel structure on its thorax;…
They looked like little flowers, or miniature suction cups, but yesterday's mystery was neither. Here's a more recent view: Arilus cristatus, a newly hatched wheel bug nymph with eggs Ted MacRae of Beetles in the Bush picks up 6 points for guessing that they were Reduviid eggs, and MarekB gets 4…
Bone-house wasps protect their young by building walls made of ant carcasses. Image from: Merten Ehmig A new species of spider wasp that protect their young with walls made of ant carcasses has been discovered in the forests of China. Dr. Michael Staab from the University of Freiburg discovered…

The Universe will try anything. The possibilities are infinite!

The Universe will try anything.

Or, rather, shit happens. :-)

By David Marjanović (not verified) on 06 May 2014 #permalink