I took this photo in the Walled Garden at Attingham park on Sunday ( wasn’t the weather great !), I nearly gave up, it wouldn’t stay still and I can’t move about like I used to be able to. Then it settled, well nearly, and I managed to squeeze of a few snaps , albeit with a bit of motion blur unfortunately, thats the problem with choosing an active subject. Anyway, this is a parasitic wasp called the Pennant Wasp. It has a fancy latin name of course , Gasteruption Jaculator.. who on earth came up with that one I wonder, they must have binge watched Monty Python or something. It is completely harmless to humans as that long thing sticking out of its rear end is not a sting its an Ovipositor. It hunts solitary Bees, like the Mason Bee for example. It drills into the nest walls and deposits an egg. When the egg hatches the larva then feeds on the host grub. If you have one of those Bee/Bug hotel things in your garden you may well see one of these flying around it and inspecting the holes paying particular interest to the blocked off ones. This particular one was going up and down and across this wall looking for a possible Mason Bee host…keep your eyes peeled.
Great shot and interesting info Coldeb. I've never seen one of those ...
Super clear photo, and one of many parasite insects we have.
I'm sorry to read of the MS.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
Many Thanks Billy, they are actually quite small and thin really, I only saw this one by chance because I was looking for something else ( a Zebra Jumping Spider, which I did find, munching on a midge , I’ll post that one up soon ).
Many thanks Mike, yep..I find the parasitic insects fascinating ( I don’t know if that reflects on my mental state or not LOL ) The MS thing is just a bit of nuisance sometimes really , but Nature is very therapeutic and it does encourage me to get out of the house and I forget I’ve even got it when I’m photographing insects and stuff ( well when the weather brightens up LOL ).
Splitting hairs...
Technically/scientifically that wasp is a parasitoid.
The hosts of parasitoids end up dying; the host is a food source with no further need. Its larvae eating the host from the inside out, whilst avoiding critical organs in the host and ensuring that the host lives just long enough.
Some parasites/parasitoids can also affect the behaviour of their hosts (in some cases to ensure that their development cycle reaches completion, where there are multiple hosts in their development/reproductive cycle).
Coldeb said:Many thanks Mike, yep..I find the parasitic insects fascinating ( I don’t know if that reflects on my mental state or not LOL ) The MS thing is just a bit of nuisance sometimes really , but Nature is very therapeutic and it does encourage me to get out of the house and I forget I’ve even got it when I’m photographing insects and stuff ( well when the weather brightens up LOL ).
You're welcome, and I know exactly what you mean about being with nature, taking photos and forgetting all the rubbish around you.
Many thanks for your detailed information Tuwit, fascinating stuff. To be honest, I just got my info from google and just cut it down a bit .