This week, on bug MMA…








Sorry, that wasn’t an intentional cliffhanger. I was outside and pulled what I thought was a gnat out of my dog’s hair, but it turned out to be an aphid with a ladybug larva clinging to its neck. They had probably fallen out of a tree when the ladybug attacked. The struggle continued as I put them on a spiral notebook to get a closer look. (For some perspective, the “cage” is part of the spiral binding, and the “pit” is one of the punched holes.) It was like a lone wolf taking down a deer, only much slower. I wasn’t sure if the larva would actually succeed because of the size differential, but unfortunately I had to go stop my dog from wandering, and the bugs had disappeared when I returned. However, I would guess that Aphid becomes a snack and Tiny Ninja transforms into Ladybug, who will continue to terrorize the aphid community. This larva was very small so it must have been recently hatched, and apparently it didn’t care that its prey was over twice its size. Eventually the larva will grow to look like this:

How was that for a Monday? Now it’s time for the Macro Mystery #2 reveal (see last week’s post for the clue):
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Macro Mystery #2 – a cinder block.
Was that any easier to guess? If not, good luck with the next mystery. The first image is a cropped clue and the second image is the full clue.

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Do you think you know what it is? You can comment your guesses, and the answer will be revealed next week.
I’m guessing…. it’s not a sign.
You are correct! It would be hard to read from more than a few feet away.
The answer to Macro Mystery #3 has been revealed: https://themarkhorton.com/2017/05/29/a-long-tongue-macro-mystery-4/