A group of mosquitoes is called a scourge which seems pretty fitting these days. I normally don’t think much about mosquitoes, but with all the wet weather, they’ve been impossible to ignore. They swarm around me every time I step outside. I never thought I would find one beautiful until I saw this one drinking nectar.

Males and females drink nectar but only females drink blood (for egg production). I realized I wasn’t the only one watching the mosquito. Check out the little jagged ambush bug below it.

I was silently cheering on the ambush bug- hoping it would help decrease the mosquito population. These members of the assassin bug family wait motionless until they can grab something to eat with their tiny crab-like claws. They can capture insects as large as bumble bees, so a mosquito really shouldn’t be a problem. I saw another one near a smaller mosquito.

Sadly, no mosquitoes were eaten.

Ambush bugs are incredibly tiny- the yellow/brown blur near the bottom of the next picture is one. I watched to see who would eat the stink bug in the middle- the crab spider above, or the ambush bug below. The stink bug crawled away unharmed.

I’ve enjoyed looking for these tiny creatures. They will sit in the same spot for a few days. I keep checking on them to see what they catch, but I haven’t seen them eat anything yet.

Male ambush bugs are smaller than females and can sometimes be seen perched on the female’s back. These two have been sitting together for the past two days. I will keep checking on them to see if they catch anything.