| | | |
Photography with cameras
Nikon D3x, Nikon D300, Canon 50D
Image editing with Photoshop | |
| |
|
Keyword: Prey | | Seite 1 von 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 | | | |
While the males feed on the nectar of various plants, the females in Central Europe prey solely on the workers of honey bees (Apis mellifera). To detect prey they deploy their visual skills as well as their strong sense of smell. When a flying honey bee is clearly identified, the attack is immediate. The bee wolf catches the prey with its front legs and, using its sting, injects poison into the uppersurface of the waist of the prey. The correct place to sting is located with special sensitive hairs. The bee cannot resist, because its own sting cannot fix onto the smooth surface of the bee wolf and is thus not able to penetrate the outer surface. The bee wolf’s sting causes spe...
...because its own sting cannot fix onto the smooth surface of the bee wolf and is thus not able to penetrate the outer surface. The bee wolf’s sting causes speedy paralysis of the honey bee. The bee wolf then presses out nectar and body fluid from the prey with its powerful front legs and eats this immediately. The bee itself is not consumed and is subsequently dropped. Transport of the prey into the bee wolf’s nest is only to supply food for the larvae. The females occasionally also feed on nectar, which they obtain directly from flowers. | | |
| | ...later the larvae (with body lengths of 3-4 mm) hatch. They increase rapidly in size . The larvae feed (starting at the lastest three days after hatching) ) on smaller aquatic animals, and are even prone to cannibalism. In water they catch floating prey with their clamp-like mouthparts (mandibles), hold them tight and swim with the living prey intact to the water’s edge. Having found a good landing point, they put their abdomen on the solid ground and move themselves backwards with tracking the prey over the shore. They crush them with their mandibles. The exoskeleton of the prey gets covered over and over again with intestinal secretions. The prey is then kneaded into a pulpy mass which can be sucked up by the larvae. This takes 2-3 minutes. Finally the larva leaves the emptied skeleton and creeps forward back into the water. Cannibalism can become so prevalent among the larvae that they p... | | |
| | | Although Thomisus onustus are a species of Araneomorphae, they do not catch prey in webs but ambush them on the flowers of solitaire growing plants. In Central Europe, these plants include Berteroa incana and heather (Erica). Here, the females are so well camouflaged that their prey run into them unawares. Males and females grab their prey - hover flies, bees, wasps, butterflies or small beetles, often considerably larger than the spider itself - with a snap of their front legs and kill them quickly with a bite in the back of the neck. | | |
| | ...y build small orb-webs (an upright web formed of threads radiating from a central point, crossed by radial links that spiral in from the edge) between branches and stems. The Tetragnatha montana lies stretched out, outside its web, waiting for the prey. If an insect flies into the web , the spider injects it with poison and the poison turns the insides of the prey into fluid. The insect is then tied up like a parcel and stored not far off from the web. The spider then starts repairing the web. If the spider gets hungry it will eat the stored prey later on. | | |
| Although crab spiders are classed as web building spiders, they capture prey by ambushing them without creating a web. As they are good climbers, they are also found on high plants. They benefit from their colouration in two ways. Firstly, they reflect UV light and therefore attract insects. Secondly, they are able to adapt ...
...nefit from their colouration in two ways. Firstly, they reflect UV light and therefore attract insects. Secondly, they are able to adapt to the colour of their hunting ground (within a few days is possible) and as a result are only observed by their prey when it is too late. They grab the prey with their front legs with lightning speed and kill them by biting them in the neck. | | |
| | Philodromus dispar prey on other insects. They are fast runners and skilled hunters and do not build webs, but capture their prey on the move. It sucks out its prey insect. In the case of danger, they press themselves flat to the ground. If they are attacked, they imitate crab spiders, lifting up the first pairs of their legs and moving towards the attacker. | | |
| | Dune robberfly | | ...l as in sandy riversides or dunes.
The dune robberfly reaches body lengths of 13-20 mm. The abdomen is grey; the upper surface is covered with large brown spots. The legs are long, strong, and black.
Dune robberflies live in sandy places. They prey on other insects and are very good hunters. They often sit on the bare, hot sand waiting for their prey which they catch and sting in the air.
The dune robberfly is active from June to September. The females have a ring of spikes at the end of their ovipositors which they use to make a hollow in the sand to lay their eggs in. The larvae usuall... | | |
| ...nsects. It builds a relatively small orb-web which is often close to the ground, The web is not more than about 1.5 metres from the ground. The autumn spider is usually found upside down in the centre of its web or near the edge , waiting for prey. In case of danger or disturbance, the spider falls back into the vegetation and adopts a special posture as camouflage. At to the soil the autumn spider can often be found in the company of spiders from the family Linyphiidae.
Males survive m...
... a number of sexually mature males appear in the vicinity of the orb-web of the female , where they wait for the female’s readiness to mate. If an insect gets caught in the female’s web, the males race towards it and the fastest spider wraps the prey in silk and offers it as a "bridal gift" to the female. While the female spider eats the gift , the successful male starts a courtship ritual during which it drums and plucks at the threads of the web to get the full attention of ... | | |
| | The rabbit hutch spider is active at night and moves back into narrow cavities in the daytime, as it is very shy The females prey on small insects (mosquitoes, flies or other species of spiders) which they either capture in their k web, or restrain on the ground. They are capable of overwhelming prey much larger than themselves likehouse spiders, for example. Males usually wander around. | | |
| | Cleridae fly and run well. They are present on different flowering plants or on tree bark, where they prey on other insects or their larvae. Female Cleridae (depending on species) lay 28 to 42 eggs under tree bark. The hatched larvae also prey on other insects. | | |
|
|
| | |
| | | | | |
|
