Season Opener - _TNY_1927S2
If we disregard a couple of flies, this ant damsel bug (Himacerus mirmicoides) is the first invert I find outside this year (yesterday, March 15th).
It's about 7 mm (1/4") long and was sitting on the white wood next to our front door.
These guys are predators and the "mimic" part of the species name comes from the nymphs mimicking ants. The first instars really look like black ants, but the later ones have a different body shape which isn't as segmented with a distinct waist as an ant - but there's a solution for that. The sides become white while the center stays black. Basically, the nymph has an ant print on its back!
This is a two-exposure focus stack (using Zerene Stacker) and the long rostrum which it uses to both impale and suck out the innards of its prey is showing quite well here.
Season Opener - _TNY_1927S2
If we disregard a couple of flies, this ant damsel bug (Himacerus mirmicoides) is the first invert I find outside this year (yesterday, March 15th).
It's about 7 mm (1/4") long and was sitting on the white wood next to our front door.
These guys are predators and the "mimic" part of the species name comes from the nymphs mimicking ants. The first instars really look like black ants, but the later ones have a different body shape which isn't as segmented with a distinct waist as an ant - but there's a solution for that. The sides become white while the center stays black. Basically, the nymph has an ant print on its back!
This is a two-exposure focus stack (using Zerene Stacker) and the long rostrum which it uses to both impale and suck out the innards of its prey is showing quite well here.