The Grimness of Nature, Part 1

Tiger fly eating small carpenter bee

This week I have seen the gruesome side of Nature. Usually I think of adult flies as nectar eaters simply because that is what I see them eating. But tiger fly adults, I learned, are predatory. While taking the above photo, I had no idea that the fly was eating another insect. In the computer, with a lot of manipulation, I think it was a green carpenter bee (Genus Ceratina). I do not like that. 

Eastern calligrapher fly with non-fatal Trombidiform mites.

My beautiful calligrapher Syrphid flies have been very rare this summer, and not just because of the weather. They flock to black-eyed susans, which bloom every other year. I have very few blossoms this year; less than 100, actually. On their blooming years, I will have thousands. Fewer flowers, so fewer flies. I managed to find the above Eastern calligrapher this week, but it was infested with mites. It has been very difficult for me to find much information on red mites on insects, but I have been told that they do not harm the insect. But having a bunch of mites hanging on your mouth parts does not seem pleasant.

Asian lady beetle probably infected with non-fatal
Laboulbeniales fungus.

The above invasive Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis, is infected with a fungus. It contracted the fungus by exoskeleton to exoskeleton contact with another lady beetle that was infected. The fungus drills down through the exoskeleton and sips the haemolymph (insect blood). The fungus can spread over the exoskeleton until the insect is covered with it (see photo here). Surprisingly, the fungus does not kill the insect, simply because the lady beetle life span is so short that there is not time enough to kill it. A fun article to read about this life cycle is "The Birds and the Bees of Ladybug STDs." 

The Laboulbeniales fungus is also called "beetle hangers." There is an entire project at iNaturalist, called Beetle Hangers, collecting sightings of it. It is a project of Beetlehangers: A Haelewaters Project. There are, at this moment, over 2,000 species of this fungus.

Close-up of Hesperomyces harmoniae fungus

Jody found a more ominous, grimmer, even nauseating find in Nature this week. Her story will be Part 2 of The Grimness of Nature tomorrow.

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