08/19/2011 Blue Mountain/Deer Park, Olympic National Park, Washington
08/19/2011 Blue Mountain/Deer Park, Olympic National Park, Washington
08/19/2011 BBlue Mountain/Deer Park, Olympic National Park, Washington
08/19/2011 Blue Mountain/Deer Park, Olympic National Park, Washington
08/19/2011 Blue Mountain/Deer Park, Olympic National Park, Washington
08/19/2011 Blue Mountain/Deer Park, Olympic National Park, Washington
08/19/2011 Blue Mountain/Deer Park, Olympic National Park, Washington
08/19/2011 Blue Mountain/Deer Park, Olympic National Park, Washington
9 - The Broad-headed Bug nymph moved its raised abdomen back and forth and waved one hind leg.
This Broad-headed Bug nymph was carrying prey—the yellowish ovoid—around for some time. My best guess is that it was a small pupa, but the photos don’t tell much. It’s possible that the bug had different items in different photos, but as far as we can tell, it carried only one around. The nymph itself was about 10 mm long. No species has been determined.
At times, the nymph stood still and moved its abdomen back and forth and waved one hind leg. Given the two big, black spots, we thought it looked like it was mimicking an ant, with the abdomen mimicing an ant head and the leg mimicking an antenna (video, slide 9). Broad-headed bug nymphs often resemble ants.
Watching this whole scene, and following the bug warily, was a female Habronattus americanus jumping spider. She never approached the bug, though she kept it in view for several minutes.