View allAll Photos Tagged Insects
Order: Hymenoptera (Wasps, Ants, Bees, Hornets, Sawflies, and Cow Killers).
Size: 6-13mm.
Range: Saskatchewan south to New Mexico and eastward.
Description: These ants are active in the spring and summer in wooded habitats, where they occupy dead tress and decaying stumps. They are omnivorous, feeding on honeydew, plant juices, and insects (they do not eat wood); scouts will sometimes forage in homes. After about 3-6 years, colonies produce winged males and queens, which are active from late spring through summer. Mature colonies have only one queen. This species does not sting but will bite and spray a type of acid known as formic acid.
6. “I might look cute but I can sap you out!” Treehoppers have long fascinated biologists because of their unusual appearance. They belong to the Membracidae family and are closely related to cicadas and leafhoppers. They feed upon the sap found in plant stems, which they prick with their beaks.
Image: Vai_boy
A parasitoid wasp of the Pteromalidae seen on the trunk of the garden birch tree. This seems to be the only chalcid that is currently active, hence it was good to see, but Pteromalidae are not an easy family to identify.
A smallish Dragonfly, not sure what it is but i am sure Garry you can tell me i dont see many, so i get rather excited when i do
Rhyssa persuasoria (meaning persuasive burglar) is one of the largest ichneumon wasps in Europe. The length of adults varies from about 10–20 millimetres (0.39–0.79 in) in males up to 20–40 millimetres (0.79–1.6 in) in the females, plus about 20–40 millimetres (0.79–1.6 in) of the ovipositor. They have a thin black body, several whitish spots on the head, thorax, and abdomen and reddish legs. The antennae are long and thin. The long stinger on the abdomen of the females is just an egg laying instrument (ovipositor), therefore these wasps are harmless to humans.
They can mainly be encountered from July through August, especially in paths and clearings of coniferous forests.
Female of this parasitic species drills deep into wood by its hair thin ovipositor (terebra) and lays its eggs on larvae living in timber, which become a food supply and an incubator for the progeny, until it is fully grown. Larvae overwinter in the wood, pupating the next spring and emerging from the wood as adults.
Main hosts of Rhyssa persuasoria are the larvae of Horntail or Wood Wasps (Urocerus gigas, Siricidae species, a type of xylophagous sawfly), as well as larvae of Longhorn Beetle (Spondylis buprestoides, Monochamus sutor) and Great Capricorn Beetle (Cerambyx cerdo).
(Inadvertedly posted publicly earlier while id-ing this species.)
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Een zeer grote sluipwesp met een legboor die langer is dan het lichaam. Lichaam zwart met gele tekening op de kop, borststuk en achterlijf. Poten grotendeels rood.
Niet zeldzaam in naaldbossen.
De sluipwesp zoekt naar de in hout levende larven van naaldhoutwespen. Om de gastheren aan te prikken moet ze diep met de legboor in het hout doordringen. Bij deze soort blijft de tweeledige legboorschede aan het eindpunt contact houden met de legboor en wordt in een krul naar boven geschoven naarmate de legboor dieper in het hout verzinkt.
Braconid wasp. Although I didn't catch it, this seemed to be displaying by raising it's wings in the air
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