This tough looking Bothriopsis bilineata sat patiently as a mosquito (bottom right) sucked away on snake blood.
A juvenile Bothriopsis bilineata, the Two Striped Forest Pit Viper, and its mosquito friend.
Mosquitos feeding on non-mammals isn’t rare, they are even known to feed on other insects.
When I showed this picture to Dr. Cameron Webb, he mentioned that there is a species of blood-sucking midge in Borneo that feeds on a frog, and can be lured in by playing the frog’s call. If that isn’t cool, then I don’t know what is.
Vipers are sit-and-wait ambush predators and are known to sit coiled up in the same place for days while waiting for prey to walk, hop, or crawl on by. This is the third day in a row I’ve seen this viper there, and the first time I found it by day. Vipers are quite shiny and easy to spot with a flashlight at night but I passed by this bush four times this morning trying to spot it in normal daylight.
Corethrellidae midges (the ones that specialize on calling frogs) can be found in the New World too! Next time you’re out in the jungles of Peru or in North America and hear a chorus of frogs around a pond, sit nearby and watch the calling frogs and you’ll likely see some flies stop by for a bite. I believe they can be called in via recordings as well (but I don’t have a citation handy right now…)
Awesome, thanks for the info Morgan! I’ve got many a frog recording on hand so I’ll give it a shot. Might be tough to compete with all of the real frogs calling here but perhaps I’ll try out a dryer area in which frogs aren’t as present. Or maybe I’ll try on a giant frog suit and see who comes.