June 16, 2009 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA
I found this pair on a viburnum in my backyard. What looks like a male Phidippus whitmani has subdued what I assume is a winged reproductive carpenter ant.
I didn’t notice while I was taking pictures, but while reviewing them I saw that a little fly arrived to share in the spoils.
Fly arriving
Fly on ant
The tiny approaching critter is a female scuttle fly (Phoridae). The behavior and the prominent ovipositor reminds me of the so called “ant-decapitating flies” (Apocephalus).
Cheers,
bjoern