Afleshy disc with the appearance of a rubbery drop-scone slides slowly forward. Around it, ants dash in a panic, seeming to tend to the imposter’s every need.
Parting the grasses on this ant hill, I had expected to see the usual brood: specks of eggs; crescents of larvae; and the lozenges of cocoons. But this was the oddest thing. Was it an animal, a plant or a fungus? Well, it had to be an animal as it was moving.
What I had found was the rarely seen larva of a hoverfly called Microdon myrmicae. The adult insect is rather unassuming – a big-eyed hoverfly with charismatic thickened antennae and a truncated body. Quite cute, by hoverfly standards.
Bu hikaye BBC Wildlife dergisinin October 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye BBC Wildlife dergisinin October 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
SNAP-CHAT
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STEPPE CHANGE
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TREES FOR LIFE
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WHEN DOVES CRY
Turtle doves are now the UK's fastest declining bird species, but the RSPB is on a mission to save them
SURVIVAL OF THE CUTEST
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LIGHT ON THE NORTH
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LET'S GET TOGETHER
Clay licks deep in the Amazon explode in a riot of colour, with macaws the stars of the show
FEMALE OF THE SPECIES
To sponge or not to sponge? That is the question for the bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) living in Shark Bay, Western Australia.
7 nature encounters for the month ahead
WITH NATURALIST AND AUTHOR BEN HOARE
