#runcinia

with forelegs spread, a Runcinia grammica faces a sky she cannot comprehend in a desperate prayer-like pose, as if begging the heavens for a blessing. her wish? a fly. a bee. maybe two bees. imagine

the reason why this Runcinia grammica is so unusually vertical is beacuse a fly was on her flower as i approached but flew away after she slowly poked it for some reason. she was hoping reaching for the sky would somehow cause the fly to come back and fall into her mouth

i've previously mentioned how Theba pisana gets in the way of every poor bug that wants to be left alone, and this peaks in early summer when all the adults are out and haven't been eaten yet. on the left here we have Runcinia grammica, whose intricately developed ambush predator skills are being thwarted by two colorful circles marking her presence, and on the right an Oedemera barbara is forced into a horribly uncomfortable position in order to have a simple pollen meal

ambush predators like Runcinia grammica tend to be very tolerant of other random animals hanging out near them, both to avoid blowing their cover and because they're just generally cowardly. this one took things a little too far though, as her cryptic coloration that fits perfectly with the thousands of nearby dead plants might not be put to optimal use when straight up cuddling with a sunbleached bone-white snail