Arthropods like House Centipedes can grow to substantial sizes (for an Arthropod) and we often find them devouring other smaller bugs. It was rare (at least to us) to find this menacing looking creature being the prey instead.

#1 A freshly moulted House Centipede

#2 Another one with a captured roach

#3 From far, it’s always the lanky legs that catch our attention first

#4 Up close to the face!

#5 Finally, the predator becomes prey, falling victim to a much larger scorpion. The legs were being removed one by one.

#6 Illuminating the scene with UV light. For more information on why scorpions illuminate under UV, read here: Why do Scorpions Glow under UV Light?

And the other interesting finds of the night… 🙂

#7 Planthopper nymph with a bushy tail

#8 Lots of termites on a fallen branch

#9 Trying to get close to the face, they run pretty quickly!

#10 The eyes are underneath the pointed head, making them seem like faceless ants

#11 Acanthaspis sp. carrying a load of ant corpses, with a poor ant looking on. This is an Assassin bug nymph.

#12 Velvety looking mite. Doesn’t stop to pose, just chase after them!

#13 Longhorn Beetle (Epepeotes luscus)

#14 Side view of the longhorn beetle

#15 Mutated Katydid. The mutation was discussed in an earlier post: Do Bugs Mutate?

#16 Freshly moulted katydid with a seemingly transparent body and bright green legs

#17 Side view of the beauty

#18 Snake spotted! At first, the broad head led us to think that this could be a viper

#19 After checking it up, found that it was a Dog-Toothed Cat Snake (Boiga cynodon) and mildly venomous

#20 Hissing at us

#21 Slithering towards us

#22 All coiled up and ready to leap

#23 Favorite shot of the night. This cat-snake can grow up to 2.5m in length

#24 Hissing at me again

#25 Final shot before it slithered into the bushes

#26 Bright red Assassin Bug (Reduviidae)

#27 Also another bug that refused to keep still

#28 Thwaitesia margaretifer (ID kindly provided by David Court) with a coin-like reflective armor on the abdomen. The “coins” were initially sparse and separated, possibly due to an intentionally bloated abdomen. It then relaxed and this was the result. Super reflective!


James blogged about this trip here.

The complete album can be viewed here.

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