Tone Killick
Ruby tailed wasp, Chrysis ignita
Cuckoo wasps are kleptoparasites that lay their eggs in the nests of other wasps and feed on the host's larvae and the paralysed insects or spiders with which the host species have provisioned their nests. The abdomen is concave beneath, allowing cuckoo wasps to curl up into a ball when disturbed. In addition, the female sting has been modified into an egg-laying tube with a highly reduced poison gland; as a result, cuckoo wasps cannot sting.
Ruby tailed wasp, Chrysis ignita
Cuckoo wasps are kleptoparasites that lay their eggs in the nests of other wasps and feed on the host's larvae and the paralysed insects or spiders with which the host species have provisioned their nests. The abdomen is concave beneath, allowing cuckoo wasps to curl up into a ball when disturbed. In addition, the female sting has been modified into an egg-laying tube with a highly reduced poison gland; as a result, cuckoo wasps cannot sting.