Aftermath of a drama

A green lynx spider with a bee; click for greater detail.

The last four posts have featured photographs showing stages in the development of jimsonweed, Datura wrightii. Just minutes into the October 24 photo session that led to those pictures (and many more), I came across the aftermath of a little drama* that had taken place on one of the jimsonweed flowers. I’d noticed that quite a few bees were attracted to those blossoms, and apparently a green lynx spider, Peucetia viridans, had noticed that attraction too and had lain in wait; here you see the result of that watchful waiting. As a bonus, though maybe an anticlimactic one, you get to see more details of a jimsonweed flower: its pistil and some of its flattened stamens that are curiously reminiscent of the bee’s wings that are temporarily near them.

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* This is the second little drama of this type I’ve presented so far, the first being on August 23 in a different color scheme, with the victim still struggling, but ultimately with the same fatal outcome as shown here.

© 2011 Steven Schwartzman