TW DEAD SNAKE, A BUNCH OF ANTS AND A SINGLE FLY
I saw an interesting insect behaviour and I accidentally bummed someone out when I thought it was okay for them... So I'm going to try and see if anyone here found it interesting! So, on my way to sketch club, I found a dead Yellow Faced Whipsnake (Demansia psammophis) smack-dab in the middle of the entryway to my property. My current belief is that a cat killed it. I took some photos, ID'd it, moved it into my garden and was on my way.
2 hours later, I come back to check on it. Nothing has taken it, no noticeable deteriation. A single stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) came in to do it's business... Except that it couldn't find an opening into the carcass, and it was covered in ants.
It flicked it's wings to kick off the occasional curious ant. Then it did, what I have to describe as a MOVE GET OUT THE WAY technique. To get the ants away from it, it actually buzzed it's wings to create an air current and just... Tried to walk through the ants to find an opening.
I feel like I shouldn't be surprised that a fly evolved a behaviour to get other scavengers off a carcass. But I find this so fascinating.
