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Jumping Spider Subdues Carpenter Ant

June 16, 2009 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

I found this pair on a viburnum in my backyard. What looks like a male Phidippus whitmani has subdued what I assume is a winged reproductive carpenter ant.

I didn’t notice while I was taking pictures, but while reviewing them I saw that a little fly arrived to share in the spoils.

Fly arriving

Fly on ant

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Tube-tailed Thrips

Tube-tailed thrips larvae | May 17, 2008 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

I spotted this scene on a small stump in my front yard. At the time I didn’t know what they were. After a bit of research, I determined they were tube-tailed thrips from the family Phlaeothripidae.

I assume there are so many because they’ve found a good food source, fungus perhaps. I’m curious as to why the larvae are orange-ish red. Occasionally I’d see a black adult like the one below, which definitely contrasts with the color of the larvae.

Adult

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White-marked Tussock Moth

I often encounter the easily recognized White-marked Tussock moth, Orgyia leucostigma. I found this one feeding on maple at the end of May in my front yard.

May 31, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA | ~30mm

I grabbed it for some closeup shots and to attempt to rear it.

Tussocks

Head

Defensive glands

It must have been a final instar, because it pupated just five days later. It spun the cocoon at the top of a container, but I carefully removed it to take some photos.

Cocoon | June 6, 2010 | ~40mm

A flightless female emerged ten days later.

It's a female! | June 16, 2010 | ~15mm

Portrait

Females cling to the cocoon until mated. That night, I carefully pinned the cocoon with her on it to a post on my deck. When I checked an hour later, mating was already in progress. The male that found her was rough looking, having lost many wing scales. read more

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