One thing leads to another

Lord Vetinari

Spotted this pine ladybird on a camelia bud- got a few not very good shots of it when it ran off behind the bud and then reappeared fairly quickly - it had nearly run head on into a small orbweb spider (Araniella species) which in turn had a wasp parasite attached to it (Polysphinctus sp)
info from Chris Raper on the wasp parasite-
"is unusual in being a koinobiont ectoparasitoid - allowing the host to continue development but living outside the host's body. The adult lays a single egg on the front of a spider's abdomen - the host is often the common white & yellow/green spider Araniella cucurbitina. The position of the egg makes it impossible for the spider to remove it using its legs or mandibles and makes rubbing it off very difficult. When the egg hatches the larva stays in the same position and pierces the host's skin to drink its body fluids. In its first weeks the larva remains quite small (<=2mm) but this is because it is ticking over, waiting for the host to get big enough. Once it senses the host is the right size it will suck the spider dry over night and grow to 5-6mm in length! The larva then spins a silk cocoon and pupates - the adult hatching after a couple of weeks."

Brian V.

BigAl

Nice find Brian! I assume you are going to watch that spider to follow the wasp's progress?

clicketf3

Very nice shots. I am in awe, having learned of this life cycle, it's just amazing, thanks for sharing.

VayCayMom

Nice, but yikes.! I have learned not to read these types of posts before bedtime. ! Great photos, great narrative.

paddler4

Great sequence. The last shot is superb.

Lord Vetinari

Thanks for the comments

Al - if I can find it again- it was in a pretty big bush

Brian v.

GOLDENORFE

very interesting series, did you notice the hitch-hiker before shooting?

MissB

this is facinating to me.. the shots are amazing.. im new to this section of dgrin.. very impressive!

Lord Vetinari

THanks Phil and missB for the comments

Phil - didn't even see the spider with the naked eye- I was literally tracking the ladybird with the camera, When the spider came into view I could see it had one of these parasites.

Brian V.