This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Can I feel Schadenfreude for an insect?
The blobs on stalks are eggs of a fierce aphid predator, the green lacewing. Lacewings typically attach eggs to vegetation, but the overzealous insect that laid these was frisky enough to oviposit directly on the back of a milkweed aphid.
Aphids will drop in response to threats, but this one is strung up by a stalk, waving in the breeze, and waiting for the predators to hatch.
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photo details:
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro lens + 12mm Kenko extension tube
Canon EOS 6D
ISO 1600, f/10, 1/125 sec, diffuse off-camera flash
Location: Urbana, Illinois