Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Photo#384302
gloomy scene, cheerful scenery - Lytta

gloomy scene, cheerful scenery - Lytta
Del Puerto Canyon, Stanislaus County, California, USA
April 10, 2010
sent in by Kip Will of Essig Museum, with the following remarks (edited): "...interesting scene: the Lytta was dead from unknown causes and clinging to the plant. On and around it was [1] a plant bug (escaped), [2] a Pedilus sp. 1, [3] an anthicid, [4] a Pedilus sp. 2 (those on the back were actively feeding), [5-7] a mix of the two Pedilus spp. Tasty cantharidin for all. This is all well known, but it is always fun to see it in action."
(Kip kept the specimens and will try to figure them out. Not sure where to place the image, and too bad the full-size pic will be unavailable to many)

Moved
Moved from Lytta.

from John D. Pinto:
"The locality potentially harbors more than one species of the Lytta Stygica Group so its difficult to tell for sure what species you have here. The brassy reflections (if that is what they are) suggest Lytta chloris (Fall). This species is very difficult to separate from L. stygica and there is the possibility they hybridize.
"The plant bug appears to be a species of Aplonema - which now includes species formerly placed in Hadronema. They are frequent visitors to meloids."

Moved from Insects.

Another wrinkle:
Since you didn't take the picture, you should put the name of the one who did (Kipling Will?) in the Copyright Owner field.

As to where it should go: the Lytta is the center of the whole scenario, so the image should go to where it belongs. The image certainly has some interesting information about Lytta's place in the local ecology.

 
thanks, Chuck--
making perfect sense, as always

Busy place.
Love the shot. Thanks for sharing!