My next group of entomological illustrations will be parasitic species. Whether blood suckers or parasitoids, it’s all good.
Starting it off with the Deer Ked, Lipoptena cervi. This little beast is a blood eating fly that lives on deer and similar animals. An individual with fly to a host, remove its own wings, and live the life of a parasite on the single host its whole life. Their bodies are flattened and adapted for moving through fur and clinging to their host, in the same fashion as ticks.
