Great Golden Digger Wasp
Meet the "Great Golden Digger Wasp".
No, judging by it's name it is not a wasp that seeks out middle-aged men with a good salary and a hefty 401 K (RRSP) account, the name relates to it's colouration .... the head and thorax are covered in a layer of golden hairs ... and how it lays and provides for it's eggs.
These non-aggressive wasps feed mainly on plant nectar but as the name implies "dig" tunnels into areas of soft soil. The females will dig multiple tunnels and when out on their forays the females will capture insects and sting them which will paralyze the insect, not kill it. She will then take the paralyzed insect back to a tunnel, drag it inside and lay an egg on the still live but immobile insect. She will exit the tunnel and conceal the entrance. The egg will hatch and the larvae will have a source of food to develope over the fall and winter until it emerges next spring. Males emerge to breed with the females, females emerge and construct the tunnels for it's nesting activities, so the cycle can continue.
While capturing insects for her egg laying efforts, these wasps are often chased and stripped of their prey by birds, so the female is often searching for prey to use for her egg laying chores.
More details are found here: www.countingmychickens.com/great-golden-digger-wasp-the-h...
Great Golden Digger Wasp
Meet the "Great Golden Digger Wasp".
No, judging by it's name it is not a wasp that seeks out middle-aged men with a good salary and a hefty 401 K (RRSP) account, the name relates to it's colouration .... the head and thorax are covered in a layer of golden hairs ... and how it lays and provides for it's eggs.
These non-aggressive wasps feed mainly on plant nectar but as the name implies "dig" tunnels into areas of soft soil. The females will dig multiple tunnels and when out on their forays the females will capture insects and sting them which will paralyze the insect, not kill it. She will then take the paralyzed insect back to a tunnel, drag it inside and lay an egg on the still live but immobile insect. She will exit the tunnel and conceal the entrance. The egg will hatch and the larvae will have a source of food to develope over the fall and winter until it emerges next spring. Males emerge to breed with the females, females emerge and construct the tunnels for it's nesting activities, so the cycle can continue.
While capturing insects for her egg laying efforts, these wasps are often chased and stripped of their prey by birds, so the female is often searching for prey to use for her egg laying chores.
More details are found here: www.countingmychickens.com/great-golden-digger-wasp-the-h...