Low-light conditions, a bit blurred. Was fascinating to see, as it iterated over multiple target apids and stabbed them all. Aphids didn't even attempt to run. Interestingly, only chose small aphids, even a very small one (seen in this photo at the lower left, near the posterior tip of the wing of the wasp).
This is a wild headline from NPR: "A fungus is turning cicadas into horny zombies — but don’t panic."
"[The fungus] Massospora cicadina has been observed in cicadas in more than half a dozen states — both those belonging to Brood XIII, which emerges every 17 years and is concentrated in Illinois, and of Brood XIX, a 13-year group that is distributed across much of the southeast."
in a way, it's surprising the hyper-diverse, hyper-numerous, and fast-evolving arthropods have evolved flight only once, while tetrapods have evolved flight 3 times.
This lil Monarch chonk has now eaten the second Aquatic Milkweed down to its stems, save for one section of it. Hungry and happy. Hoping there’s enough left for it to pupate and do its thing
Seems likely they are more "flighty" in the spring and early summer when the flowers are a bit sparser. But if you're patient you'll eventually come across one feeding calmly.
(06/03/24)
NEWS: Lars Chittka, Ph.D., professor of sensory and behavioural ecology at Queen Mary University of London, has been selected to deliver the Founders' Memorial Award Lecture at Entomology 2024. Chittka will recount the pioneering accomplishments of Charles Henry Turner, Ph.D. (1867-1923), a Black entomologist whose discoveries on insect sensory systems, learning, personality, and intelligence were a century ahead of their time. #EntSoc24#entomology#insects MORE: https://entsoc.org/news/press-releases/lars-chittka-2024-founders-memorial-lecture