Thread-waisted Wasp

[rdback]

Saw this guy busy at work the other day. Thread-waisted Wasp. They sting their pray to paralyze it. Then, they drag it over to a hole they dug, cram it in, and lay an egg on it. I think you can figure out the rest lol. GOOD bug!

Thread-waisted Wasp

[heavyhitterokra]

That's pretty cool rdback. You were lucky to have witnessed that.

[chrysanthemum]

Thanks for the picture, @rdback. I don’t know how you capture some of the shots you do.

All summer I’ve wanted to get a picture of a Texas wasp I’ve been seeing around, the tarantula hawk. I actually had the opportunity to witness one one evening at the neighbor’s house zooming in and paralyzing a tarantula, and I often see the wasps flying about, but I never seem to see one when I have my camera outside. If I ever do get a good picture, I’ll post a thread.

In the meantime, I thought I’d post an article I found about the thread -waisted wasp. It goes into a lot of detail about types of parasitism, but I definitely learned some things. I was glad to hear that some thread-waisted wasps really like cutworms.

uwm.edu/field-station/thread-wasted-wasp/. (The link and the title contain the same misspelling of waisted, but the article gets it right.)

[woodeye]

Aug 19, 2022 9:17:37 GMT -6 chrysanthemum said:

Thanks for the picture, @rdback. I don’t know how you capture some of the shots you do.

All summer I’ve wanted to get a picture of a Texas wasp I’ve been seeing around, the tarantula hawk. I actually had the opportunity to witness one one evening at the neighbor’s house zooming in and paralyzing a tarantula, and I often see the wasps flying about, but I never seem to see one when I have my camera outside. If I ever do get a good picture, I’ll post a thread.

In the meantime, I thought I’d post an article I found about the thread -waisted wasp. It goes into a lot of detail about types of parasitism, but I definitely learned some things. I was glad to hear that some thread-waisted wasps really like cutworms.

uwm.edu/field-station/thread-wasted-wasp/. (The link and the title contain the same misspelling of waisted, but the article gets it right.)

WoW! That's a must-read article! 

[rdback]

Aug 19, 2022 9:17:37 GMT -6 chrysanthemum said:

Thanks for the picture, @rdback. I don’t know how you capture some of the shots you do.

All summer I’ve wanted to get a picture of a Texas wasp I’ve been seeing around, the tarantula hawk. I actually had the opportunity to witness one one evening at the neighbor’s house zooming in and paralyzing a tarantula, and I often see the wasps flying about, but I never seem to see one when I have my camera outside. If I ever do get a good picture, I’ll post a thread.

In the meantime, I thought I’d post an article I found about the thread -waisted wasp. It goes into a lot of detail about types of parasitism, but I definitely learned some things. I was glad to hear that some thread-waisted wasps really like cutworms.

uwm.edu/field-station/thread-wasted-wasp/. (The link and the title contain the same misspelling of waisted, but the article gets it right.)

chrysanthemum Glad you like the pic. I agree with woodeye, nice info in that link. I have another TwW that frequents the garden, but I haven't got a pic of her yet. She's all black, similar to the one in the article you posted.