Who would consider ants farmers? Farmer is not a vocation naturally assigned to these tiny insects. The fact is that they herd and care for aphids to keep a much-loved food in constant supply. Aphids and ants on plants are as interdependent as Idli & sambar. I saw this Camponotus Ant on the underside of … Read more
I found these major workers of Weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) hunting a nymph of a cockroach. As these nymphs grow they are compelled to moult their cuticle, a process known as Ecdysis. After moulting, an arthropod is described as teneral, a callow; it is fresh, pale and soft-bodied. They are pretty vulnerable to attack by … Read more
Spiders are a far cry from the monsters people make them out to be. Spiders as a group consume more bugs than birds do. In our house, we enlist help from spiders, specifically Huntsman spiders (Heteropoda cf. venatoria) to keep our house as cockroach-free as possible. The male huntsman you see here was hunting a … Read more
I found a bunch of Blue Mud Dauber wasps in my garden sleeping on a dry vine. These Blue Mud Daubers, Chalybion bengalense are pretty common blue household wasps we encounter at home. Even though these are solitary wasps, males have a habit of sleeping in a group together. I was using my Canon EOS … Read more
Here is a capture of Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) workers killing a Indian Queenless Ant, also known as Lesser Striated Bispinous Ant (Diacamma indicum). These Diacamma indicum ants are native to the Indian subcontinent. Since Diacamma species forage individually and they don’t have a queen in their colony they are also called Indian queenless ant. … Read more
I found this Flat-head Leafhopper Nymph belonging to Ledrinae Subfamily of diverse leafhopper family Cicadellidae in my garden. While photographing it jumped on to my trousers. I was not sure which was its host plant. The leafhopper also looked pretty transparent and was having a very good camouflage. To highlight that transparency, I decided to … Read more