e6572ccdfd60710154527aa9cfc3bf09

Acanthocephala declivis--this was found while driving to work one morning on the hood of my car! I was just picking up speed on my neighborhood road when my field assistant (in the passenger seat) noticed it flailing, upside-down, on the hood. We stopped and captured it for later study. It likely fell onnto my hood from an oak tree above, and it was immobilized by the cold weather--about 45°F. I've not seen this species previously in the NC Piedmont--I usually find only Acanthocephala terminalis. Length is 31 mm (measured, tip of abdomen to base of tylus)--really large!