Eucharitid wasps are specialized parasites of ants. Here's one in a nest of Pheidole bicarinata. Arizona, USA. #orasema #Eucharitidae #Wasps #Ants #Insects
検索
Found a dead thrush (sad for the bird), and on the dead thrush was an alive (chalcid?) wasp.
#insects #wasps #MacroPhotography
返信元:
Out today in pre-print from UTAustin's Moran Lab: Mexican honey wasps apparently acquired gut bacteria from honey-feeding bees (like bumble bees) to help them digest their new diet.
Honey wasps? Yes, they're real.
#Entomology #Science #Insects #Wasps #Microbiome
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.08.27.609949v1
Also, honey wasps are really amazing looking animals. They're as if you gave yellow jackets a week to become honey bees, and they tried their best, bless their hearts.
#Brachygastra #Vespidae #Insects #Wasps
Out today in pre-print from UTAustin's Moran Lab: Mexican honey wasps apparently acquired gut bacteria from honey-feeding bees (like bumble bees) to help them digest their new diet.
Honey wasps? Yes, they're real.
#Entomology #Science #Insects #Wasps #Microbiome
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.08.27.609949v1
This wasp has a very unique head and eye shape that really made it stand out when I found it. After some digging, I'm wondering if it's an introduced wasp from the genus Spathius. There are a few species of this genus that are parasitoids of the emerald ash borer, a major invasive pest in the US. iNaturalist doesn't have any observations of any of the parsitoid species in Illinois, but it was in an area where I've found EAB before.
#insects #wasps #BugMystery #MacroPhotography
I know traditionally Wednesdays are for weevils, but I've run out of weevils so I'm offering up #WeirdWaspWednesday for your consideration.
This wasp is Dolichomitus irritator, a common wasp around here, enjoying the nectar of a cup plant.
#insects #wasps #MacroPhotography
A small chalcid wasp, looking shiny. To the naked eye they look like small, plain fruit flies, but under magnification they have these nice metallic colors and bright red eyes.
#insects #wasps #MacroPhotography
Diplazon laetatorius - while the actual common name for these wasps is Common Hover Fly Parasatoid Wasp (really rolls off the tongue), I mostly see these wasps prowling around colonies of aphids in our yard.
#insects #wasps #MacroPhotography
Another small mystery wasp, standing on my thumbnail after I coaxed it off my camera.
#insects #wasps #MacroPhotography
A tiny, wingless wasp. Female of the genus Baeus, about the size of a speck of dust. They parasitize spider egg sacks.
I see only one observation on iNaturalist in Illinois, I'm guessing due to their size their get overlooked a lot.
#insects #wasps #MacroPhotography
One of my favorite local insects is the Mexican honey wasp Brachygastra mellifica, a relative of hornets that makes and stores honey.
Earlier this week I took a new photo of a live nest, in cutaway, thanks to Jo-anne Holley's research lab here at UT.
#Brachygastra #Wasps #Insects #Entomology #Vespidae
A very small wasp from when the flowers were blooming.
I'm looking forward to the warmer weather and being able to get back out and looking for bugs again.
#insects #MacroPhotography #wasps
Such a stylish little Encyrtus wasp. Photographed at UT Austin's amazing Brackenridge Field Lab.
#Encyrtidae #Wasps #Wasplove #Insects #Hymenoptera
A small mystery wasp at the end of bug season on a goldenrod flower.
#insects #wasps #MacroPhotography
