Ambush Bug ambushes Painted Lady Butterfly

So I'm doing some yard work and walk by our "Butterfly Bush" - it's really called that because it attracts them. On one branch, I notice a Painted Lady Butterfly frantically flapping its wings, but not going anywhere. I look closely, but can't figure out what is going on. So I grab my Canon 50D DSLR with the 55-250 lens attached in order to take some close-up pictures.

When I come back outside, the Painted Lady was now hanging from the branch, but not moving. After a few minutes of looking closely, I realize there was a much smaller bug clamped on the head of the butterfly. As I was to find out, this is an Ambush Bug of the Phymata species. These predaceous insects have strong front legs with hooked claws and stealthily stay well camouflaged as they lay in wait for unsuspecting victims. So while I wasn't able to get any pictures of the actual battle between the Ambush Bug and Painted Lady butterfly, here's some pictures of the aftermath - nature is pretty amazing.

Ambush Bug with Painted Lady Butterfly - mouseover image to see close-up picture! ;-)

ambush bug painted lady butterfly

Super close-up of the Ambush Bug from the Phymata species

Ambush bug painted lady butterfly super closeup

Side views - mouseover images to see close-up picture

ambush bug painted lady butterfly side

ambush bug painted lady butterfly side

Back side of the Painted Lady Butterfly and Ambush Bug - mouseover image to see close-up picture

ambush bug painted lady butterfly side

Wide angle view of the Butterfly Bush

Ambush bug painted lady butterfly 1

The late afternoon Sun lit up the butterfly's wings nicely - crop from above picture

Ambush bug painted lady butterfly 2

A nearby blue garbage can provided a colorful backdrop - mouseover image to see another similar picture

ambush bug painted lady butterfly garbage can

One more close-up ... that is one scary looking bug!!!

Ambush bug painted lady butterfly 3


Ambush Bug uses its Beak to Suck the Butterfly's Body Fluids - yikes!

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ambush bug painted lady butterfly sequence 1


Another sequence of the Ambush Bug and the Painted Lady Butterfly

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ambush bug painted lady butterfly sequence 2
Photography Notes: As mentioned, these pictures were taken with a Canon 50D DSLR with a 55-250 lens attached which has a minimum focusing distance of 3.6 feet. This isn't a true Macro lens (which typically provide a magnification factor of 1x), but at 0.31x at 250mm telephoto, it's pretty decent ... and the 400mm equivalent allows me not to disturb the subject too much.

Depth of field at F/5.6 is 0.1" ... increasing to a whopping 0.3" at F/14 ... so accurate focus is very challenging, especially since this was "in the wild" with things moving around. My technique is to use manual focus at closest range, and then move myself back-n-forth until (using my 46 year old eyes) it looks sharpest in the viewfinder. There certainly were a number of fuzzy pictures, but as can be seen above, some came out pretty decent. Too bad I don't have a Canon 7D since HD movie would have been very cool. All taken Sep 17th, 2009 on a warm sunny Fall afternoon.

I have a lot of respect for Macro Photographers - especially after taking pictures of a Bee Stinger and Ladybugs Humping - it's hard! ;-)