Dryinid - Dryinus alatus Richmond Hill, York Region, Ontario, Canada July 28, 2007 Size: 7 mm
Hoping to observe more of the Dryinid's behaviour (i.e. anything BUT its madly running around like there's no tomorrow), I captured a tiny Typhlocybine Leafhopper and a Fieberiella florii (the size of the Dryinid itself) to test the wasp's reaction against them. The Dryinid eyed the F. florii for a while. Several times, it even attempted what seemed to be a "mantis strike", an attack which obviously failed because of the leafhopper's size and powerful jump. Meanwhile, the wasp was quite disinterested in the smaller Typhlocybine, so in the end nobody was hurt.
This image shows a hypothetical situation of a Dryinid stalking leafhopper prey, protarsi cocked and ready to strike.
(Note: I've never met a Dryinid prior to this encounter, so the "hypothetical situation" really is hypothetical, i.e. I don't know how they actually hunt. Just being a little imaginative, though :-))
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Contributed by Stephen Luk on 29 July, 2007 - 9:31pm Last updated 16 January, 2008 - 3:04pm |