Uh oh (Again)

This time the "uh oh" is for the ladybug/bird who is about to become lunch for the orange dude. Orange dude is actually a Sycamore Assassin Bug (Pselliopus barberi) who is a seriously lethal hunter. I've been fascinated with these bugs since I first discovered one in my garden several years ago. I rarely see them because they tend to hide under the leaves - and they are really tiny. And I've never had the experience of seeing one hunt!

So, you can kind of imagine that I was pretty excited when I was out hiking this morning and happened to see a bit of orange on a leaf on the edge of the trail - and that I was toting the D600 with the 105mm macro lens (yippee!) I took about 40 pictures of this encounter, all fired rapidly because the event unfolded pretty quickly. What is amazing to me is that the ladybug didn't see the scary orange dude stalking her! I mean, really - he's bright orange with white and black striped legs ... kind of hard to miss, no? I could have tried to save the ladybug, I suppose, but I really didn't want to get my finger in stinging range. Assassins have a nasty bite. They use the long pointy thing (you can see it here) to inject their victim with an enzyme that basically turns it liquid, allowing the assassin to dine. Creepy but fascinating.

I've posted three other shots of the assassin/ladybug encounter, including the kill-shot, on Flickr. It is midway through the 11 shots I posted, starting with a quizzical hummer HERE.

Still having a ball with the macro lens and trying to justify why I NEED to spend that much money to buy it. I'm winning. Just so you know...

Hubs is having a good time racing and, in fact, is probably out in the car as I type this. Go fast, babe!

xxoo
Debbi