The seed defenders

Many seed predators have converged upon the hollyhocks and are feasting on the seeds.  Nevertheless, things may not be as bad as they first appear for this new generation of hollyhocks -- for the seed predators have been attracting enemies of their own.  During my rounds through the garden, I have noticed that the hollyhock seed pods are also routinely patrolled by a number of predators.  The most common of these predators are wasps and ladybugs.

A European paper wasp (Polistes dominula) on a hollyhock seed pod.

A ladybird beetle (Coccinellidae) inside a hollyhock seed pod.

Although many of the hollyhock seed predators that I have seen are bugs, not all of the bugs on hollyhocks are necessarily there to eat seeds.  When I first saw the bug pictured below, I thought it was piercing through the pod to reach the seeds inside.

A bug eating a much smaller insect, speared on its mouthparts.

Upon close inspection, however, a very small insect is visible at the end of the bug's mouthparts.  In contrast, the bug pictured below was no longer a predator of any kind.  Instead, it had become the prey of a crab spider.

A crab spider (Mecaphesa sp.) eating a bug on a hollyhock seed pod.