#wasp testimonials

[waspdaily]

Gaze upon my beautiful girls I caught trespassing

Caught them at different places (all in New England) but I gave the first one (northern paper wasp) some frosting which she loved before letting her go outside and unfortunately I didn’t have anything to give the second one (Mexican grass carrying wasp? Not 100% on the id) but she was very cleanly and made sure she throughly cleaned herself off before leaving

Also saw this lovely lady bringing home a spider

Wasn’t able to id her past her being a spider wasp but she was very pretty

Anyway im just glad someone else is being as insane abt wasps as i am currently and i wanted to share my lil guys w u :D

A whole bevy of lovely lovely leggy ladies! It's always impressive to see such delicate looking wasps hauling spiders roughly the same size as them away.

Thank you for sharing the wasp love! I am wishing you a many more peaceful encounters with these fascinating insects!

[waspdaily]

Love it when wasps are blue and very shiny. Last fall I saw a Chlorion aerarium and was entranced. Hopefully I get to see one again this year but theyre pretty rare

Seeing one of those blue beauties would be such a treat! While being able to see one in person would be the ideal, at least with photos I get to enjoy spotting the photographer reflected in their shiny butts

Credits

[waspdaily]

Hey! I saw a bunch of these European Mammoth Wasps (Regiscolia maculata) when I was on holiday in Corsica. So impressive in person, they're the biggest wasps we get in Europe.

Could be a cool one to feature, or just enjoy the photo I took!

Hope you have a nice day xx

Today's wasp of the day is the European mammoth scoliid wasp (Regiscolia maculata)!

Referred to as "mammoths" because they're both big and hairy! The significance of these wasps has been recognized even by the ancient Minoans as it's been suggested that a mammoth wasp was likely used as a model for the relic known as the Malia Pendant (which is most likely meant to depict bees as they were significant to Minoan culture, but many ancient cultures do not differentiate between wasps and bees and the mammoth wasp's size would have made it a striking model for the artist)

This wasp actually comes in three flavors depending on location across Europe! Males of each typically have black heads but the females change it up a little:

Regiscolia maculata bischoffi: have yellow heads with red hair on the lower half of their abdomen

[source]

Regiscolia maculata flavifrons: have yellow heads and all black hair on their abdomens

[source]

Regiscolia maculata maculata: have red heads (though some individuals get more yellow depending on area) and layers of red fringe on their abdomens.

[source]

[waspdaily]

Behold my wasp

Free her!! My client is innocent!

[waspdaily]

My child next?

Scolia dubia

I love it when buggos have butt spots. Knowing that they're likely meant to mimic eyes to confuse predators just makes it sillier though because then I just picture googly eye butt

[original image source]

[waspdaily]

i was on the porch when this little fella crash landed down from the sky right a foot away from me. looked like it just caught something mealy! maybe it needed a breather (thorax was quite active). quite a gentle presence tbh. after about a minute of gathering itself it flew away much more gracefully. just wanted to share ^_^

I remember watching a wasp hunt some cabbage worms in my garden last year. The caterpillar was a pretty feisty one and gooed her so she spent a while cleaning up before packing up the meal-- but she couldn't carry all of it so after rolling up her first ball and flying off she came back a couple minutes later for the second, and this time her sister came too to help find more grubbies (though it did take her a while and I eventually had to offer her one on a stick right in front of her...).

It's hard work doing all those grocery trips, taking breaks and staying hydrated is important across all species!

[waspdaily]

Hi, I just wanted to say thank you for what you do! I really struggle with wasp phobia, and your blog is a genuine help, as I try to look at them with curiosity and wonder (just like the rest of the natural world). 💖

This is honestly the best compliment I could ever receive. I'm so happy that, if nothing else, I can help at least one person out there enjoy a new aspect of life.

And give yourself some credit too! Confronting a phobia is never an easy task, but you're not letting it hinder your sense of wonder which is such an important achievement!

Thank you for giving wasps a chance :)

[waspdaily]

I went to get the mail today and there were FOUR (4) little (likely parasitoid) wasps. I don't know what was going on, but I feel incredibly lucky!

There must be a tiny parasitoid wasp convention in town!

So neat to see various different wasps hanging out! The last one looks like an ichneumon (its got the "horsehead" shaped cell in its wing under the pterostigma which is key in telling ichneumonids from braconids) and if I had to wager a guess I'd say possibly Diplazon laetatorius based on the legs which is one of the most widely distributed hymenopteran around the world (meaning everyone has a chance to meet one yay!)

If anyone has any idea what the other little friends may be please let me know! I especially like the one with the yellow face and legs in the first and second image