25 Would possibly 2024
Infrequently whilst birding we discover species we aren’t searching for. This spring in Frick Park we’ve noticed two sluggish shifting snakes and two “robbers” mating.
The rope around the path, above, is a black rat snake or japanese ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis) who’s searching for lunch or a secure position to digest his meal.
Two weeks previous a bunch people encountered any other black rat snake off path in dappled coloration. It got here to a halt when 12 excited other folks stopped to take its image.
Black rat snakes are large however now not venomous and have a tendency to be docile (from a human perspective). They kill through constriction to devour rodents, lizards and frogs and will climb timber to devour nestlings and eggs. If you happen to discover a black rat snake on your shed it’s been appearing a public carrier through consuming mice.
Robber flies, the Asilidae circle of relatives, had been information to me. When Charity Kheshgi and I noticed those insects mating we didn’t know what they had been.
They’re recognized as participants of the robber fly circle of relatives as a result of they’ve bristles (referred to as mystax) at the face, a melancholy between the eyes, and a stout proboscis, described underneath.
They’re powerfully constructed, bristly flies with a brief, stout proboscis enclosing the pointy, sucking hypopharynx. The title “robber flies” displays their skilled predatory behavior; they feed principally or completely on different bugs and, most of the time, they wait in ambush and catch their prey in flight.
Robber flies don’t assault people however they’ll give a painful bit if provoked.
So we didn’t impress them.