Sunday, June 19, 2022

Ambush

I saw a bee on this plant, but it wasn't moving, which is unusual. Looking closer I found a crab spider (Goldenrod crab spider?) had ambushed the bee. It was quite hidden but it was preoccupied enough with its meal to let me pull some leaves back to get a better view.

crab spider eating bee

I went back a little later and the spider had turned the bee around so it could "eat" the other half. (They inject digestive fluids and then suck out the resulting slurry.)

When I checked in the morning at first all I could find was the empty husk of the bee. Eventually I found the spider hiding a few inches away.

I think the plant it's on is Wolf Willow (native), although Pl@ntNet identifies it as Russian Olive, which is related but not native (from Asia). But Russian Olive is a small tree, whereas these were bushes. The flowers smelled nice.

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