I am impressed. Several of you* figured out the mystery behavior: reflex bleeding, a defensive response employed by some arthropods with especially nasty hemolymph to deter predators. A couple of you even pegged the identity of the mystery arthropod, a blister beetle in the genus Epicauta. Here’s the uncropped photo:
Five points each to Tim, Ainsley, Neil, and Dave. And, ten points each to Pete and TGIQ.
So. Um. Don’t spend them all in one place…
*what’s up with all the guessers-of-mysteries being bloggers? Are bloggers just smarter?
Maybe just geekier 😛
P.S. That is SUCH A COOL BEETLE. I want one.
Well clearly I need to bone up on my blister beetles and their biology.
Don’t feel bad, James. It’s a trick photo (see my comment to Ainsley, below).
Yep, I agree TGIQ… proud to be a geek!
You’re the only non-blogger among the participants. What gives? Is Peteblog.com taken already?
I’ve often thought about it, but the general standard of bloggery in the ento/bio fields is just so high it’s a little intimidating!
Maybe one day….
So the single claw WAS a red herring! CURSES.
That’s exactly why I cropped the photo that way. It’s the wrong angle to see the split tarsal claws, too.
I totally went down that one-claw road too…but it ended up nowhere, so I figured it had to be a trick.
Sneaky ant guy.
Oh well, it would be neat if there were a spider with reflexive bleeding, but at least you are one great arthropod photographer that doesn’t shoot jumping spiders.
Same thing that happens to me when I’m grabbed with forceps