Hiding from Light. Phosphuga atrata, Black Snail Beetle, The Pond, Océ-weerd, Venlo, The Netherlands
In the chilly drizzle I was pottering about a bit around the Océ Pond where stands the pretty, almost blossoming Farrer's Wayfaring Tree (www.flickr.com/photos/87453322@N00/6812458018/in/photolis...). Beneath it was a moss-covered tree trunk. I thought it might be interesting to look under the bark so I carefully lifted a small section away. Letting in the gloomy daylight I saw a 'hibernation' of a hundred or so Black Snail Beetles. Heads withdrawn under pronota, they await warmer weather. When they've become active again, they hide away similarly during the day and hunt at night. They'll find earthworms and snails and such. Grasping soft mucuous parts, the Beetle bites and injects a yellowish digestive fluid that will dissolve mucus and then its prey's innards preparing it for a liquid meal. In the photo the blacks are the mature adults, the reddish the younger ones.
Yes, I did carefully replace that segment of mossy bark perhaps to the dismay of also hibernating prey.
Hiding from Light. Phosphuga atrata, Black Snail Beetle, The Pond, Océ-weerd, Venlo, The Netherlands
In the chilly drizzle I was pottering about a bit around the Océ Pond where stands the pretty, almost blossoming Farrer's Wayfaring Tree (www.flickr.com/photos/87453322@N00/6812458018/in/photolis...). Beneath it was a moss-covered tree trunk. I thought it might be interesting to look under the bark so I carefully lifted a small section away. Letting in the gloomy daylight I saw a 'hibernation' of a hundred or so Black Snail Beetles. Heads withdrawn under pronota, they await warmer weather. When they've become active again, they hide away similarly during the day and hunt at night. They'll find earthworms and snails and such. Grasping soft mucuous parts, the Beetle bites and injects a yellowish digestive fluid that will dissolve mucus and then its prey's innards preparing it for a liquid meal. In the photo the blacks are the mature adults, the reddish the younger ones.
Yes, I did carefully replace that segment of mossy bark perhaps to the dismay of also hibernating prey.