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Harvestman eating Pupae

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Description

Taken at night in Singapore forest.

Quote en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opilione…
Many species are omnivorous, eating primarily small insects and all kinds of plant material and fungi; some are scavengers, feeding upon dead organisms, bird dung and other fecal material. This broad range is quite unusual in arachnids, which are usually pure predators. Most hunting harvestmen ambush their prey, although active hunting is also found. Because their eyes cannot form images, they use their second pair of legs as antennae to explore their environment. Unlike most other arachnids, harvestmen do not have a sucking stomach or a filtering mechanism. Rather, they ingest small particles of their food, thus making them vulnerable to internal parasites such as gregarines.

Although parthenogenetic species do occur, most harvestmen reproduce sexually. Mating involves direct copulation, rather than the deposition of a spermatophore. The males of some species offer a secretion from their chelicerae to the female before copulation. Sometimes the male guards the female after copulation and, in many species, the males defend territories. The females lay eggs shortly after mating or anytime up to several months later. Some species build nests for this purpose. A unique feature of harvestmen is that in some species the male is solely responsible for guarding the eggs resulting from multiple partners, often against egg-eating females, and subjecting the eggs to regular cleaning.

Depending on circumstances such as temperature, the eggs may hatch at any time after the first 20 days, up to about half a year after being laid. Harvestmen pass through four to eight nymphal instars to reach maturity. Most known species have six instars.

Most species are nocturnal and colored in hues of brown, although there are a number of diurnal species, some of which have vivid patterns in yellow, green and black with varied reddish and blackish mottling and reticulation.
Image size
960x640px 354.8 KB
Make
Canon
Model
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Shutter Speed
1/160 second
Aperture
F/18.0
Focal Length
100 mm
ISO Speed
125
Date Taken
Dec 28, 2013, 12:07:39 AM
Sensor Size
6mm
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Comments7
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Nyktomorphia's avatar
Wow - I love the joints where the legs emerge from the cephalothorax. Beautiful. :D

On a sillier note, I also love the way it's holding the pupa. I wish I had the photo-editing skills to turn it into a milkshake.