Thread-legged Bug with Spider Prey

30mm long | December 30, 2011 | Quirinópolis, Goiás, Brazil

This thread-legged bug appears to be hanging in mid-air, but in fact it has delicately balanced itself on a spider web. Its beak holds a small spider that it must have just plucked from the center of the web.

Some thread-legged specialize in spiders, and I wonder if this might be one of them. Some are even known to lure the spider by plucking at the web like captured prey might.

Another view

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One Response to Thread-legged Bug with Spider Prey

  1. Reduviids are always fascinating, but in South America you have some of the best ones. I think some of the Thread-legged ones here (Arizona) pluck the prey caught in a spider web rather than going after the spider. Easy to see how one behavior could lead to the other

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