Favoritos de edanko

In the second photo here, the squat lobster is shown with its meal. After I took the first photo, it quickly dashed out and grabbed something (larva? baby fish?) and quickly went back into its hole. There's also a nudibranch in the second shot, Phyllidiopsis annae.

Male Pachydiplax longipennis being eaten by Opheodrys aestivus

Like a lot of these predation shots I heard the irregular beat of frantic, chafing wings before locating the scene.

I was taken aback when I first realized what was happening. That quickly wore off though and I was on the ground trying to get as close as possible without disrupting or having any meaningful influence on the situation.

Two great predators. In the end the dasher broke free and clumsily flew off (though he was lucky there were birds looking for an easy catch). I can't say for sure whether or not I played any part in the snake not succeeding in this struggle. If it were venomous I think (though I don't know if venomous snakes spend their venom on dragonflies or if they specialize in more protein-rich options) the dasher would've been done for.

But, the snake maneuvering his jaws to clamp down on the dragonfly gave some room for escape--especially since his jaws were over the thorax and wings, which were already beating trying to escape.

wierd skinnies

1.2cm long ,weird appendages all over, pumps along like a maggot and uses tiny front legs as pointed too in the second photo (white arrow),its head pumps in and out. .appendages look as if they are made up of little clear beads.

Necrophila americana. Meadowside Nature Center, Rockville, Maryland, USA.

There were three species of carrion beetles in the same patch of vegetation. I looked around but couldn't see or smell any carrion.

Oiceoptoma noveboracense. Meadowside Nature Center, Rockville, Maryland, USA.

There were three species of carrion beetles in the same patch of vegetation. I looked around but couldn't see or smell any carrion.

Oiceoptoma inaequale. Based on the posterior tips of the elytra being rounded slightly inward.

Meadowside Nature Center, Rockville, Maryland, USA.

There were three species of carrion beetles in the same patch of vegetation. I looked around but couldn't see or smell any carrion.