SUMMER ADVENTURES - Episode 40 - SPIDER HUNT - for the Butterfly Day and Insect Day Giveaway - Week 46
Batozonellus lacertida is a spider hunting wasp that I've seen many times on the coastal shrubs and meadows ...
... before learning that is a spider hunting species.
I saw this wasp many times during the summer ...
(Enlargeable)... feeding on the wild carrot flowers ...
... or buzzing around me when I lied on the beach after a bit of snorkeling.
(Enlargeable)But then one very hot summer day ... on the blackberry shrub ... while I was picking the berries for the seasonal marmalade ...
... I came across this situation.
(Enlargeable)It all happened very fast, I barely had the time to let the bag with blackberries fall to the ground and take my camera, that at one point also fell deep in the thorny shrubs :) it was a painful and messy action ... and so are the pictures, because it was a low quality, small compact camera and I couldn't obtain a nice, shallow depth of field that would make a nice blurred background ... and the video quality is also ... hm, less than stellar. But the situation was dynamic and interesting, definitely not something I see every day, so I did the best I can to make something out of it with this poor equipment.
(Enlargeable)As I said, when the action started I was picking blackberries and my hands were very near to this Wasp spider (Argiope bruennichi) ...
(Enlargeable)... the spider was eating a Bush - cricket caught in his silky orb ...
... and when the wasp attacked the web started to move and vibrate frenetically ...
(Enlargeable)... at first I thought that another prey was caught in the trap ... something big ... maybe another cricket ...
... then when I saw the colors and shape of that thing, very similar to those of the spider, I thought that another wasp spider somehow appeared ...
... at first I was taking pictures, not knowing what I'm exactly photographing here ... things were happening very fast and frenetic ...
... but I had the clear sensation that is something pretty interesting.
And then when the spider was definitely paralyzed ... hanging helplessly on the thread ... with the wasp buzzing around ...
... a Chabrier's marbled Bush - cricket (Eupholidoptera chabrieri - maybe you remember him from the episode 39) appeared ... and started chewing the remains of the cricket caught in the spider's web ...
... and now ... with the last few shots ...
(Enlargeable)... of the voracious cricket ...
(Enlargeable)... is time to end this dramatic little post ... the wasp soon brought the spider deep into the thorny labyrinth of the dense blackberry bush where I couldn't follow with my camera, so this is - THE END.
As always in these posts on Steemit, the videos and the photographs are my work.
Oh wow, that looks dramatic :) The detail is incredible again, but I have already said that many times :D ;)
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 5/15 - need recharge?)
Thanks. :) It's always a pleasure to hear it :D
We have many wasps here that hunt the big spiders. Spiders don't have big muscles in their legs, they move their legs through the hydraulic action of fluid being pumped in and out of the legs. Wasp venoms disrupt that pumping action and so they can't move again but don't die.
Great series of shots!
Thanks. :) Great info about the venom ! Didn't know how exactly works.
Yes, I have seen a couple of these wasp/spider fights and got curious
Fascinating! Like spinning in a waltz)
There is a good song "Spider and Fly" performed by LAM ...
True, really looks like an acrobatic death waltz. Cool song, hearing it now for the first time.
They have a lot such songs, atmospheric and with deep meaning...
:) I'm exploring Selected scenes from the end of the world full album on Youtube now.
Yes, this is a real masterpiece of art)
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That is incredible! Talk about a food frenzy! The spider's last meal was part of a cricket, without the spider even knowing it was her last meal, another cricket eats the remains of the other cricket and the wasp walks away with a huge spider meal. You just can't make these things up. LOL! And for the cherry on top, you were able to capture it all with fantastic photos and videos. Love it! You should be very proud of me for looking at the pictures closely, even though I just couldn't enlarge them because you know I am petrified of spiders. And to watch the videos too? I deserve an award but you deserve the medal. : )
:D