Tags
British butterflies, British spiders, butterfly, Crab spider, Crab spider kills Orange-tip, Cuckoo flower, Orange-tip, Orange-tip male, Orange-tip on Cuckoo flower
Sometimes I can be a bit slow. During today’s walk, I was ambling along the edge of a meadow when I spotted a male Orange-tip butterfly flitting from one small patch of Cuckoo flower to the next. Then it stopped at one spot longer than usual so I walked quickly over to get some photos. I could see its tongue was out so knew it was feeding but, still, I was amazed at how long it was staying put on the one flower. And then I saw why …
The poor butterfly had been grabbed by a lurking, very well camouflaged Crab spider.
earthstar 
Wow, you were definitely in the right place at the right time. I’ve never seen anything like it.
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Gruesome but fascinating!
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That is an awesome observation. But what a bummer for the butterfly.
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Sadly, yes.
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Pressing the ‘like’ button seemed a little harsh given the circumstances, so I’ll just offer Media vita in morte sumus, and ponder the possibilities of an alternative ‘intrigued’ option.
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Very appropriate words, thank you. 🙂
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