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A series of images showing a Draco feeding on weaver ants. This Female was so well camouflaged that it was hard to make it out in the viewfinder and focus. The images are random selection from a set and are not shot in a single sequence. This was made in the garden of my home in calicut outskirts. This Clearly shows that Dracos also display the gular pouch while feeding
Rgds
Roopak
1. Cast
If you look closer you will see 2 weaver ants coming down the tree trunk.
The ant is within range
There seems to be some saliva on the Dracos mouth tip.
The tongue is out and the ant is still on the tree trunk.The action was lightening quick and this the best i could do.
The tongue is back in and the ant is history.
Display starts
Full display
Lovely series Roopak!
The display is happening after swallowing? How many seconds did the display last? Did it display after swallowing each ant? This is pretty interesting. I urge our fellow photographers to wait and capture such action rather than needlessly chasing the mega fauna all the time.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi
Nice observation. Good you could document the whole behavior. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Sir,
The display was after swallowing and lasted for about a second. It did display ever time it fed immediately after swallowing but in between it also displayed a few times. I specifically checked all around to see if there were any other individuals male or female but there were none and also observed the behaviour being repeated on 4 other occasions. In fact this female seems regular visitor to our garden.
would like to add that the courtship display of the female seemed a bit longer than the one while it fed. I have recorded a similar series of the courtship display of the male and female and mating. Will post that soon.
Rgds
Roopak
Brilliantly done Roopak! This is certainly a very valuable natural history record. Never knew about the gular display while feeding. When was this recorded? Also, does it show a specific preference to weaver ants?
A video (if possible next time) would be lovely too.
TFS
Abhishek : Ive seen this particular female on the same tree (jackfruit) which almost always has some weaver ants on it, so I guess this is a oft used feeding spot. Not sure about preference for weaver ants. Will try and make a video soon.
Rgds
Roopak