Lampyrid firefly preying on a giant African snail!

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orionmystery
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Lampyrid firefly preying on a giant African snail!

Post by orionmystery »

Lampyridae firefly (Lamprigera sp. - ID credit: Michael Geiser, Gene Mesher) attacking and later eating a Giant African Snail (Achatina fulica. ID credit: Tan Siong-Kiat, Marcus Ng) that it killed earlier. Selangor, Malaysia.

8:36pm
ImageLamprigera sp. preying on Giant African Snail IMG_4376 copy by Kurt (orionmystery.blogspot.com), on Flickr

8:36pm
ImageLamprigera sp. preying on Giant African Snail IMG_4377 copy by Kurt (orionmystery.blogspot.com), on Flickr

8:36pm the snail tried to escape...
ImageLamprigera sp. preying on Giant African Snail IMG_4378 copy by Kurt (orionmystery.blogspot.com), on Flickr

8:37pm
ImageLamprigera sp. preying on Giant African Snail IMG_4379 copy by Kurt (orionmystery.blogspot.com), on Flickr

8:38 pm
ImageLamprigera sp. preying on Giant African Snail IMG_4382 copy by Kurt (orionmystery.blogspot.com), on Flickr

8:38pm
ImageLamprigera sp. preying on Giant African Snail IMG_4383 copy by Kurt (orionmystery.blogspot.com), on Flickr

11:44pm we were on the way out of the forest park and I tried to look for the Lampyrid and snail again. Took me a few minutes but I finally found them, but I startled the beetle and it stopped eating the snail
ImageLamprigera sp. preying on Giant African Snail IMG_4423 copy by Kurt (orionmystery.blogspot.com), on Flickr

11:47pm..i waited..and a few minutes later, the Lampyrid resumed its escargot supper.
ImageLamprigera sp. preying on Giant African Snail IMG_4429 copy by Kurt (orionmystery.blogspot.com), on Flickr
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John Martin
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Re: Lampyrid firefly preying on a giant African snail!

Post by John Martin »

Wow, that is friggin' incredible! :shock: Excellent documentation of predation probably rarely seen by others. And as always, stunning macro work (I'd guess 99.9% of the people on this forum wish they could duplicate your photography talent - I know I'm in that percentile). Thanks for the ride, and keep'em coming...
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Lampyrid firefly preying on a giant African snail!

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Absolutely wonderful sequence! BTW, that's one hell of a firefly - I think the world's biggest. When you pick them up, they'll start an alarm-glow in your palm that can be seen even in daylight.
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BillMcGighan
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Re: Lampyrid firefly preying on a giant African snail!

Post by BillMcGighan »

That's just a great sequence. :thumb:
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orionmystery
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Re: Lampyrid firefly preying on a giant African snail!

Post by orionmystery »

John Martin wrote:Wow, that is friggin' incredible! :shock: Excellent documentation of predation probably rarely seen by others. And as always, stunning macro work (I'd guess 99.9% of the people on this forum wish they could duplicate your photography talent - I know I'm in that percentile). Thanks for the ride, and keep'em coming...
Thank you, John :)
Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote:Absolutely wonderful sequence! BTW, that's one hell of a firefly - I think the world's biggest. When you pick them up, they'll start an alarm-glow in your palm that can be seen even in daylight.
Thanks, Hans. I actually rarely come across any fireflies during the day. I'll have to check them out to see if they are really that bright!
BillMcGighan wrote:That's just a great sequence. :thumb:
Thank you, Bill!
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Noah M
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Re: Lampyrid firefly preying on a giant African snail!

Post by Noah M »

Dang thats cool! :thumb:
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orionmystery
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Re: Lampyrid firefly preying on a giant African snail!

Post by orionmystery »

captainjack0000 wrote:Dang thats cool! :thumb:
Thank you, captainjack0000.
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