View allAll Photos Tagged predators
Ruddy darter - Sympetrum sanguineum
The dragonflies are wonderful. They are very efficient predators, they can intercept prey mid-air, they can move each of their four wings independently from the others, they have near-360-degree vision with their eyes which contain 30,000 facets, each bringing in information about the insect's surroundings. Top of it they're beautiful insects :)
***
Thank you very much for viewing my photos, I appreciate the faves and comments!
Fynn and a mouse, a real one this time. Sorry, this is not a very pretty sight but something you have to get used to if you live with predators. Fynn isn't a very passionate hunter and he didn't kill the poor mouse himself. When he found it on the path behind the house, the mouse was already dead, probably dropped there by Sethi who hunts everything that moves and is smaller than himself. Fynn occasionally catches mice too but usually brings them home alive and releases them somewhere in the house. That's not very funny either but I honestly prefer a living mouse in my bedroom to a dead one on my doorstep.
Fynn has a vet appointment next Tuesday for his dental surgery but I think I will have to cancel it. The cat flu strikes again at the moment and a surgery under these circumstances would probably be a very bad idea. I will talk to the vet on Monday and see what she says.
Golden Silk spider,
Trichonephila clavipes
Approximately to scale with the Prey photo just posted, although the spider will be significantly larger than a dragonfly, if it survives into the fall.
From www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/nictitating-membranes-natur...
"For most birds, keen eyesight is absolutely critical — for finding food, spotting predators, and generally staying alive. But many birds lead lives that could be very hard on the eyes.
"Fortunately, birds have evolved a structure for protecting their eyes. Like humans, they have upper and lower outer eyelids. But beneath the outer eyelids lies an extra eyelid, called the nictitating membrane. Nictitating, for all its alliterative syllables, simply means “blinking”. This extra eyelid is hinged at the inner side of the eye and sweeps horizontally across the cornea. The nictitating membrane is largely transparent, and it helps keep the eye moist and clean while guarding it from wind, dust, and hazards.
“Reptiles and some mammals have the extra eyelid, too.”
—Bird Note
This extreme close‑up captures the raw intensity of an alligator’s eye, a living relic of prehistoric design. The frame is dominated by the reptile’s armored textures a mosaic of ridges, scars, and scales that look carved from ancient stone. The iris glows with a molten bronze shimmer, fractured like dried earth under a relentless sun, while the vertical pupil slices through the center like a blade.
Every wrinkle and pore tells a story of survival a creature that has watched millennia pass from the same vantage point, half‑submerged and patient. The photograph’s tight composition eliminates all context, forcing the viewer to confront the primal intelligence behind that gaze. It’s not just an eye; it’s a warning, a challenge, and a reminder that nature’s apex designs don’t fade they endure.
My latest photography is now available for purchase at crsimages.pixels.com/, featuring prints, framed art, and more from my curated collections.
These deceptively small animals, the wild dogs are one of the most ferocious in the forest- even more so than the leopard. And as they are rare to sight, capturing a pair of them with my camera was a treat. They looked warily, yet curious straight into my lens.
Obviously, this female mantid prompted sci-fi thoughts, thus the 2 titles. ;-)
If you compare the eyes in the 2 shots of Alien & Predator, you can see how the pupil-less eye, with its thousands of receptors, reflects light at different angles and under different lighting conditions.
-Predator- - Female Praying Mantis 1204
Green Lacewing (Mallada signatus) larva
I was happy to see this Green Lacewing larva on the Jade Plant. I haven't seen a Green Lacewing for a few years.
You can see the debris on its back as it was scuttling towards the 'hole' between the Jade leaves. They carry the debris as a disguise against predators. In fact until it moved I thought is was just some seed material from the Pittosporum tree.
Mosca asesina con su presa.
Las condiciones de la toma no acompañaban, mucho viento y una hora ya tardía ( cerca de la una de la tarde) de un muy caluroso domingo de julio, con una calima importante, y precisamente por eso la luz era fantástica para el macro, eso fue lo que me hizo salir , tampoco disponía de mucho tiempo, tenía que preparar la paella familiar.
Este tallo de hinojo se mecía con el viento, así que tenía que esperar a ese momento de tregua que suele haber entre racha y racha de viento, aprovechar para enfocar y disparar unas ráfagas, para intentar garantizar mínimamente el foco.
Esta fue una de las tomas que quedaron mas decentes.
Thick bristly hairs cloak the red-footed cannibal fly (Promachus rufipes). Its eyes, however, remain always clear and unobstructed to help it deftly capture prey.
20.10.2022
Predator EN100-006 jako osobowy relacji: Warszawa Śródmieście WKD - Podkowa Leśna Główna za chwilę zatrzyma się na p.o. Otrębusy.
1. Mantis Series 7/7, 2. I'm watching you, 3. Mantis Series 6/7, 4. Mantis Series 3/7
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
Beautiful yet ferocious, dragonflies’ extraordinary flight skills allow them to catch prey with a success rate of up to 97%. In addition to super vision, their precise and agile maneuvers in flight make them highly effective deadly hunters.
I think this is one Robber fly about to lunch on a different species of Robber fly. I was watching the smaller one fly hoping it would land while not realizing that I wasn't the only one tracking it. Imagine my surprise when I witnessed the Ariel attack and prompt landing for a brief moment.