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#wasps

3 posts3 participants0 posts today
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rsp

Megischus bicolor (Bicolored Crown-of-thorns Wasp). Notable features of this parasitoid wasp are the long "neck," enlarged and toothed hind femora, and teeth on the head (from where its name is derived). Although it appears wingless, they're there--just held tightly against the body. Females have an ovipositor that exceeds their body length--used to lay eggs in larvae of wood-boring beetles.

Detail of hind leg showing enlarged femur and notch.
Very long, thin wasp sitting on a leaf with antennae outstretched.
Closeup of head showing tubercles on top of head.
Closeup showing base of wings.
#insects#wasps#nature
Public
Colin Purrington

If you're a gall and iNaturalist fan, consider joining the Gall Week 2025 project, May 3-11. #inaturalist #galls #insects #wasps #flies #plants inaturalist.org/projects/gall-

iNaturalistGall Week May 2025Welcome to our Spring/Fall Gall Week event! This will be our 7th Gall Week event, and we hope it will be as successful as our previous events. During May 3-11, please document galls = structures induced by arthropods, fungi, and sometimes bacteria on plants. Please do not document here leaf miners or other evidence of feeding, unless they are gall-related. To participate, please join the project, document new observations between 5/3-11, and upload them manually to the project. Uploading observations can continue after the event ends. More info from our 2021 project: Don't forget to add information about the host plant - as a note, or even better, in the fields: Host and Host plant ID field. You can also link to the host plant observation, especially if you aren't sure what it was. If you've never done this before, you can check what are the best host plants in your area. You can use gall or insect books from your area, websites (such as https://gallformers.org/), podcasts (https://...
Public
Stephan*

I like to observe wildlife in all its forms during my waddle, and learn from these observations.

Yesterday I saw the wood scraping German wasp. First time I saw this. And question in my mind: why?

Interwebs says it mixes the wood with saliva into a mass to build a nest. More info added to alt text.

Will post a video too (in reply)

#Nature NaturePhotography #wasps

German wasp stripping a wooden pole. It uses the scraped wood for building a nest. "The animals also ingest wood orally, but only collect it as building material for their nest. Mixed with their saliva, they chew it into a mass they form in the brood chambers, which becomes very hard after drying. Depending on the type of wasp, different wood structures are preferred: common wasps stick to rotten wood, giving their nests a beige colour. German wasps, on the other hand, gnaw away the semi-weathered surfaces of wooden poles and furniture, giving their nests a greyish appearance." https://tuinplanten.wiki/13742/de-vreemde-honger-van-wespen-naar-hout
Public
Lukas VFN 🇪🇺

The Secret of a Plant's Sexual Attraction Is Betrayed by the Shadow of Its Scent
botany.one/2025/04/the-secret- via @botanyone

Pollination by sexual deception via pro-pheromone mimicry? nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/do

"The #orchid produces chemicals called alkenes, which do not attract the wasps. But these are unusual alkenes... they break down when oxidised into very specific aldehydes... When male #wasps get a whiff of these aldehydes, they go mad with lust & attempt to copulate with the plant."

Close-up photo of an orchid plant with reddish brown and green flowers
Public *
Z

The #USAF has removed training courses with videos of its storied #Tuskegee #Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or #WASPs — #WW2 #pilots who were vital in ferrying warplanes for the #military — to comply with the #trumpmeltdown administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

The videos were shown to Air Force troops as part of #DEI courses they took during basic military training.

apnews.com/article/air-force-d

...just another ecxuse to erase us from #history

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