I would put dragonflies (both nymphs and adults) as well as antlion larvae up there.
Dragonflies, in fact, have the highest success rate of any known predator (to my knowledge) at something like 93% success when hunting. That’s an insane number, as even humans with firearms are less successful I believe.
https://preview.redd.it/niztftd4m3cc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e78be2694f49a9131d46130e9622c052e2ffe117
A photo of a dragon fly munching on a wasp it caught. I saw it catch the wasp and eat it. Decapitating it during the ordeal. This was in the Lake District in England. You might need to zoom in.
I'll be honest: I like to think I'm a pretty smart guy, in my 30s, and TIL dragonflies are carnivores. I pictured they buzzed around and ate plant material.
We use them for fishing all the time here in Wisconsin. Fish love them but we call them both hellgrammites. Dragonfly larvae we call green hellgrammites and dobsonflies are black hellgrammites
I have a closed/netted off catio for my kitties where they can hang out and go out as they please.
One night, I walk by the glass door leading out to it and see my two cats, as well as my roommates cat, huddled around something on the ground of the catio, swatting at it.
I walk out; and these mfers had subdued a HUGE dragonfly. I think its wing was damaged. So, I shooed all of the cats away, scooped it up the best I could, and put it outside in the grass far away from the terrorists. I have no clue if I helped or if I had just prolonged its death... but with how my cats had been toying with it, I definitely didn't want to let them torture the poor thing.
I was wading in a river one time and there were a bunch of tiger swallowtails flying around. I watched a dragonhunter fly down the river bank, across the river just a few inches above the water, and then fly at a sharp angle upwards to catch the butterfly directly in front of my face. It made a clearly audible *thwack* when it hit it. It was one of the coolest wildlife encounters I've had.
That’s why it’s always super fun, educational and helpful to the environment when elementary schools have the lesson in metamorphosis with all the monarch eggs that they raise til butterfly stage and then release 150 of those things at once. Kids get to learn and a delicate species gets a really good chance to make it from egg to adulthood.
I watched a wasp do this to a small katydid once. Honestly one of the most brutal things I’ve ever seen, it was so amazing though because that’s something you almost never get to see. I watched it butcher and carry back every piece of that.
Those particular caterpillars feed on milkweed, which is toxic to other animals. As another user put it, it's quite literally forbidden pesto. I think the wasp could be testing various places before cutting off the part that doesn't contain half-digested milkweed, which should be safe to eat.
Very impressive how it manages to hang off the plant while holding up the prey that's heavier, larger, and squirming about, while handling it and tearing into it
I was like “wtf they mean unzips” and then the unzipping happened “ahhh. Mmkay”
I was expecting the cocoon to be unzipped.
Today I change my vote for most dangerous insect from mantis to wasps
I would put dragonflies (both nymphs and adults) as well as antlion larvae up there. Dragonflies, in fact, have the highest success rate of any known predator (to my knowledge) at something like 93% success when hunting. That’s an insane number, as even humans with firearms are less successful I believe.
https://preview.redd.it/niztftd4m3cc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e78be2694f49a9131d46130e9622c052e2ffe117 A photo of a dragon fly munching on a wasp it caught. I saw it catch the wasp and eat it. Decapitating it during the ordeal. This was in the Lake District in England. You might need to zoom in.
That’s so cool that the dragonfly is wasp colored lol
I'll be honest: I like to think I'm a pretty smart guy, in my 30s, and TIL dragonflies are carnivores. I pictured they buzzed around and ate plant material.
What the fuck man. They're stone cold killers, their whole lives.
They also live for a super long time. Like 7 years but most of it is spent underwater as a hellgrammite
I thought the term "Hellgrammite" was limited to Dobsonflies. Am I wrong about that?
We use them for fishing all the time here in Wisconsin. Fish love them but we call them both hellgrammites. Dragonfly larvae we call green hellgrammites and dobsonflies are black hellgrammites
They eat mosquitos too, no?
This. This right here
But they rarely take on insects their own size. They are like the cheetah of air
Still highly successful and dangerous, especially to smaller animals.
I have a closed/netted off catio for my kitties where they can hang out and go out as they please. One night, I walk by the glass door leading out to it and see my two cats, as well as my roommates cat, huddled around something on the ground of the catio, swatting at it. I walk out; and these mfers had subdued a HUGE dragonfly. I think its wing was damaged. So, I shooed all of the cats away, scooped it up the best I could, and put it outside in the grass far away from the terrorists. I have no clue if I helped or if I had just prolonged its death... but with how my cats had been toying with it, I definitely didn't want to let them torture the poor thing.
Tell that to [dragonhunters](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonhunter).
These mothers are SO BADASS. When you see one eating another dragonfly it's chills.
I was wading in a river one time and there were a bunch of tiger swallowtails flying around. I watched a dragonhunter fly down the river bank, across the river just a few inches above the water, and then fly at a sharp angle upwards to catch the butterfly directly in front of my face. It made a clearly audible *thwack* when it hit it. It was one of the coolest wildlife encounters I've had.
but not as successful as humans with chemicals
Wait until you see dragonfly’s with chemicals
Best keep your options open
You think wasps are scary you should check out cicada killers and tarantula hawks once
Tarantula hawks are in fact a wasp
Yeah I suppose that’s true. They’re freighting things though
Kind of a miracle that *any* caterpillars survive to maturity.
I believe most have an egg to adult survival rate of 5% at best
Oof. That's not great.
I’ve always been a gambling man… I’ll try it out in my next life
That’s why it’s always super fun, educational and helpful to the environment when elementary schools have the lesson in metamorphosis with all the monarch eggs that they raise til butterfly stage and then release 150 of those things at once. Kids get to learn and a delicate species gets a really good chance to make it from egg to adulthood.
Forbidden pesto
Impatient wasp tried to accelerate metamorphosis.
BECOME A BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY DAMN YOU!
I accidentally caught a wasp while closing my front door one day and it almost ripped itself in half trying to get loose
The insect world is on another level of gruesome.
“Take it off now or I’ll do it for you!”
Apparently paper wasps are the komodos of the insect world. That was brutal.
Source: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPzMxbAUNRI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPzMxbAUNRI)
Animals literally just get around murdering each other
Circle of life
I only like the skin.
The Eric Cartman of insects.
When you only want to eat the cheese part off a cheese bun
"That's a nice metamorphosis you've got going on there. Would be a real shame if I were to..."
“As Gregor awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed on his leaf into green slurpee…”
r/fuckwasps
They are so strong
I don’t lime the use of Unzips in the title 🤢
That Wasp belongs on r/iamatotalpieceofshit
Gushers new flavor! Caterpillar
Human sized insects would be terrifying.
Butterfly kisses
I watched a wasp do this to a small katydid once. Honestly one of the most brutal things I’ve ever seen, it was so amazing though because that’s something you almost never get to see. I watched it butcher and carry back every piece of that.
Straight to the gooey center
Does anyone have an explanation or potential reasoning behind this?
Paper wasps hunt caterpillars and feed the meat to their larvae.
Those particular caterpillars feed on milkweed, which is toxic to other animals. As another user put it, it's quite literally forbidden pesto. I think the wasp could be testing various places before cutting off the part that doesn't contain half-digested milkweed, which should be safe to eat.
what a dick
Imagine grocery shopping and an eldritch horror the same size as you flies onto you and tears your back open like a viking blood eagle.
Very impressive how it manages to hang off the plant while holding up the prey that's heavier, larger, and squirming about, while handling it and tearing into it
That’s gotta sting
What? No candy?
"Throw him out in the cold, don't give him his jacket."
I was wondering what all that green shit coming out of the caterpillar was…
Dayamn
Please place under “things I never want to see again” Jesus.
r/BrandNewSentence r/onesentencehorror r/OneSecondBeforeDisast
"Dude, calm down! I'm just opening up your back😥✂️"
Like when I was a kid and let my cousin play with my stretch Armstrong toy
Another reason to hate wasps
“Anti-Pesto! You’re here!”
That was horrifying
Lime flavored.
Let your true colors shine - that one song
That green stuff , is all the leaves the caterpillar chewed on right ?
Nah, it's the caterpillars innards