View allAll Photos Tagged vespid
The butterfly bush in our backyard is a treasure trough for finding insects. Especially in the afternoon, when the sun is not as hot anymore. You can find all sorts of bees, European or native buzzing from flower to flower.
One afternoon, an insect was sitting just right on a leaf. It was not interested in flying off so I decided to capture it with a few exposures. With a steady hand and a flash to freeze any vibrations, I was able to capture this beauty of a wasp.
With a little bit of digging, I was able to narrowed it down and identify it as a Brown Mason Wasp.
Mason wasps (or Potter wasps), the Eumeninae, are a cosmopolitan wasp group presently treated as a subfamily of Vespidae, but sometimes recognized in the past as a separate family, Eumenidae. Most eumenine species are black or brown, and commonly marked with strikingly contrasting patterns of yellow, white, orange, or red (or combinations thereof), but some species, mostly from tropical regions, show faint to strong blue or green metallic highlights in the background colours. Like most vespids, their wings are folded longitudinally at rest. Eumenine wasps are diverse in nest building. The different species may either use existing cavities (such as beetle tunnels in wood, abandoned nests of other Hymenoptera, or even man-made holes like old nail holes and screw shafts on electronic devices) that they modify in several degrees, or they construct their own either underground or exposed nests. The nest may have one or several individual brood cells. The most widely used building material is mud made of a mixture of soil and regurgitated water, but many species use chewed plant material, instead. (Source: Wikipedia)
© Spohr Photography 2019, all rights reserved.
MURDER HORNET FRIDAY. Post Number 3. Vespa manderinia. Now found in the Pacific Northwest, but not found out of the Washington Canada border. Yet. Magnificent really in its combination of rounded head and the angularities of mandibles. Look at the compound eyes and note that they are not oval, but have an incursion of integument. Not sure why but many, if not all, vespids have this. A few bees even dither around with these alternative eye shapes. This specimen is not from the Pacific Northwest, but was purchased by Izzy Hill prior to the known entry of these vespids. Feel free to use these photos however you like.
~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~
All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish.
Photography Information:
Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200
We Are Made One with What We Touch and See
We are resolved into the supreme air,
We are made one with what we touch and see,
With our heart's blood each crimson sun is fair,
With our young lives each spring impassioned tree
Flames into green, the wildest beasts that range
The moor our kinsmen are, all life is one, and all is change.
- Oscar Wilde
You can also follow us on Instagram - account = USGSBIML
Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen:
Best over all technical resource for photo stacking:
Art Photo Book: Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World:
www.amazon.com/Bees-Up-Close-Pollinators-Around-World/dp/...
Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Maryland:
bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf
Basic USGSBIML set up:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY
USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4
Bees of Maryland Organized by Taxa with information on each Genus
www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections
PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up:
ftp://ftpext.usgs.gov/pub/er/md/laurel/Droege/How%20to%20Take%20MacroPhotographs%20of%20Insects%20BIML%20Lab2.pdf
Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques:
plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo
or
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU
Excellent Technical Form on Stacking:
Contact information:
Sam Droege
sdroege@usgs.gov
301 497 5840
Primeuchroeus sp.
Subfamily: Chrysidinae
Family: Chrysididae
Superfamily: Chrysidoidea
Suborder: Apocrita
Order: Hymenoptera
The family Chrysididae is a large and cosmopolitan group that includes over 3000 described species. They are brood parasites as the common name of cuckoo wasp implies. The host species are typically wasps in the Crabronidae family or of Eumeninae Vespid wasps. Wasps in the Chrysididae family are known to produce odours that resemble their prospective hosts to reduce the chances of being recognised as a threat.
The female sting apparatus has been modified for laying eggs and they seldom use it to sting. Members of this subfamily have a concave ventral surface of the metasoma allowing them to curl up defensively (conglobation) when attacked by the would-be host.
The bright iridescent colour of the wasp in this photo is typical of the family. (Be aware, however that some Chalcid wasps are also irridescent or metallic in appearance). This individual was seen prowling near the nests of Crabronidae wasps.
A good way to separate bees and wasps is to look at where the antennae are mounted. If they are low on the face (as can be seen in this image) then it is most likely a wasp. If the antennal mounting points are about the middle of the face then it is likely a bee. The antennae of the wasps tend to be very “busy” and mobile compared with bees.
Brett Smith had this advice on this family: " If you find a Chrysididae, focus on the rear end. The teeth, or lack of, on the rear end (mesopleura) is diagnostic:"
See Ellura Sanctuary website for description of the abdominal teeth:
www.ellura.info/Diptera-Hymenoptera.html?fbclid=IwAR0hdgR...
Brothers, D. J. (2019). Evolution of the parasitic wasp subfamily Chrysidinae (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae). Zootaxa, 4664(1), 1-69.
DSC02442
We are proud to present our Vespid Corset, a cute waspie corset, in Black/Plasma.
For Belleza Freya and Maitreya Lara.
Available in the Marketplace and In World now
Paper wasps are vespid wasps that gather fibers from dead wood and plant stems, which they mix with saliva, and use to construct nests made of gray or brown papery material. Some types of paper wasps are also sometimes called umbrella wasps, due to the distinctive design of their nests
Gananoque, ON Canada
German Wasp, ' Vespula germanica ',
Vespula Germanica, the German Wasp, has three small black spots on its face, This species makes greyish coloured nests underground, in hollow trees, or inside sheds and attics,
This is very like the Common Wasp but the yellow stripes on stripes on the pronotum bulge in the middle and the yellow band behind the eye is unbroken, The face usually has a triangle of three black spots, Nests are built in the same places as those of the Common Wasp but the paper is greyer, At rest, the wings are folded in longitudinal pleats along the sides of the body. Most species are black or brown with yellow or white markings.
Vespid's eyes are notched on the internal margins and may look crescent-shaped.
Note, Nest shape, colour, and location help to identify social wasps, which may look very similar, Wasps remove many garden pests to feed their larvae,
Order,- Hymenoptera.
Family,- Vespidae.
Species in Family,- 4,000.
Size,- 8-26mm.
Feeding,- Larvae; carnivorous. Adults; predators, liquid-feeders ( nectar ).
Impact,- Very beneficial but can sting.
Intimidating and beautiful. An animal to treat with respect.
Contributed to Sliders Sunday -- Post Processed To The MAX!
Posted to Parks, Arboretums, Botanical Gardens
Taken in Cunningham Falls State Park, Maryland, USA
The family Ripiphoridae (formerly spelled Rhipiphoridae) is a cosmopolitan group of beetles commonly known as wedge-shaped beetles containing some 450 species. They are one of the most unusual beetle families, in that they are parasitoids—different groups within the family attack different hosts, but most are associated with bees or vespid wasps, while some others are associated with roaches. They often have abbreviated elytra, and branched antennae.
Those that attack bees typically lay their eggs on flowers, where they hatch almost immediately into small planidium larvae that wait for a passing host. They grab onto a bee when it visits the flower, and ride it back to its nest, where they disembark and enter a cell with a host larva. The beetle larva then enters the body of the host larva, where it waits while the larva grows. When the host pupates, the beetle larva migrates to the outside of its body and begins to feed, eventually consuming it.
Technical info:
100mm f2.8 L macro lens + 20mm ET + Raynox DCR-250
f16
1/125
ISO125
270 EX + DIY diffuser
handheld
Guêpe / Hyménoptère Vespide sp
Merci à Tous (toutes) pour l'ensemble de vos Retours et Commentaires.
Je vous présente ce Portrait......
Et cette Photo est réalisée avec le Vieil Objectif Olympus Zuiko 50mm Macro des Années 1960 + Demi-Soufflet
Dasylechia atrox (Williston 1883). Found at Pleasant Valley Conservancy SNA in southern Wisconsin. Dane County, Wisconsin, USA.
Prey is a vespid wasp of sorts. Found in oak/hickory forest/savanna.
My friend Mike Reese was leading a field trip looking for this species and other robber flies when he saw this beauty fly by in front of him carrying a bee and land on the topside of a branch in an oak tree a few meters off trail. It quickly moved to underside of branch, which was 6-7 feet up from forest floor. It proceeded to feed on the bee for over an hour before discarding it and subsequently taking this vespid wasp as prey.
Single exposure, uncropped, handheld, in situ. Canon MT-26EX flash unit, Ian McConnachie diffuser.
The Australian hornet, actually a type of potter wasp or "mason wasp", is a vespid insect native to the Australian states and territories of the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. Wikipedia
This wasp was photographed at fairview Park, a northern suburb of Adelaide, SA.
This is my Lego version of the the original GW miniatures. They look more or less accurate and are scaled just about right compared to the rest of my Tau.
And here comes for those who want to replicate my design once again: be sure you know at least what WH40K is before doing so. I'm no longer asking you to even respect me and my color/part combos. I'm only asking you to respect Warhammer 40000 with its aesthetics and ideas behind the designs.
Paper wasps are vespid wasps that gather fibers from dead wood and plant stems, which they mix with saliva, and use to construct water-resistant nests made of gray or brown papery material
ALBERT EINSTEIN
"Si la abeja desapareciera de la superficie del globo, al hombre solo le quedarían cuatro años de vida. Sin abejas, no hay polinización, ni hierba, ni animales, ni hombres".ALBERT EINSTEIN
ABEJAPEDIA Abejas. Enciclopedia Especializada
Abejorros
Bumblebee-2009-04-19-01Los abejorros (Bombus terrestres) son tipos de abejas eusociales, de una manera muy similar a los véspidos, como las avispas. La reina inicia un nido por su cuenta (a diferencia de las reinas de las abejas de la miel y las abejas sin aguijón, que comienzan sus nidos a través de enjambres, en compañía de un grupo de trabajadores). Las colonias de abejorros tienen típicamente de 50 a 200 abejas en su población máxima, que se produce a mediados o finales de verano.
La arquitectura del nido es simple, limitado por el tamaño de la cavidad del nido (preexistente), y las colonias son raramente perennes. Las reinas del abejorro a veces buscan la seguridad en el invierno en colmenas de abejas de la miel, donde a veces son encontradas muertas por los apicultores, presumiblemente picadas hasta la muerte por las abejas de miel. Se desconoce si alguna sobrevive el invierno en un ambiente así.
Los abejorros son uno de los polinizadores silvestres más importantes, pero se han reducido significativamente en las últimas décadas. En el Reino Unido, 2 especies se han extinguido a nivel nacional durante los últimos 75 años, mientras que otros se han colocado en el Plan de Acción para la Biodiversidad del Reino Unido, como especie prioritaria, en reconocimiento de la necesidad de adoptar medidas de conservación.
ABEJAPEDIA Bees. Specialized Encyclopedia
Bumblebees
Bumblebee-2009-04-19-01The bumblebees (terrestrial Bombus) are types of eusocial bees, in a very similar way to the vespids, like the wasps. The queen starts a nest on her own (unlike the queens of honey bees and stingless bees, which start their nests through swarms, in the company of a group of workers). Bumblebee colonies typically have 50 to 200 bees in their maximum population, which occurs in the middle or late summer.
The architecture of the nest is simple, limited by the size of the cavity of the nest (pre-existing), and the colonies are rarely perennial. The queens of the bumblebee sometimes seek safety in the winter in hives of honey bees, where they are sometimes found dead by beekeepers, presumably stung to death by honey bees. It is unknown if any survives the winter in such an environment.
Bumblebees are one of the most important wild pollinators, but have been significantly reduced in recent decades. In the United Kingdom, 2 species have been nationally extinct for the past 75 years, while others have been placed in the United Kingdom Biodiversity Action Plan as a priority species, in recognition of the need to take conservation.
Sapyga centrata. A small vespid wasp that parasitizes the nests of Osmia and Megachile. This specimen from Tennessee, but no label information on it so can't recall who gave it to us. Lindsey Ugiansky did the picture taking...her first work!
~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~
All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish.
Photography Information:
Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200
We Are Made One with What We Touch and See
We are resolved into the supreme air,
We are made one with what we touch and see,
With our heart's blood each crimson sun is fair,
With our young lives each spring impassioned tree
Flames into green, the wildest beasts that range
The moor our kinsmen are, all life is one, and all is change.
- Oscar Wilde
You can also follow us on Instagram - account = USGSBIML
Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen:
Best over all technical resource for photo stacking:
Art Photo Book: Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World:
www.amazon.com/Bees-Up-Close-Pollinators-Around-World/dp/...
Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Maryland:
bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf
Basic USGSBIML set up:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY
USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4
Bees of Maryland Organized by Taxa with information on each Genus
www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections
PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up:
Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques:
plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo
or
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU
Excellent Technical Form on Stacking:
Contact information:
Sam Droege
sdroege@usgs.gov
301 497 5840
A Zotaxian attack figher, the Vespid Viper was built to defend the Voltstone harvesters from the Bilgen Bugs
Built for NoVVember! I did some reading up on the Insectoids Lore to write the flavour text, and man that's some weird backstory
So yeah, I don't build these days... But I have found this quite old (yet quite cool) model and decided to finally upload it. From the color scheme some of you might say it was meant to be one of my Tau battlesuits. That's true, I wanted to make some more original Vespid armor, but ended up with making it an unrelated and independent design.
Giant Asian Hornets - Vespa mandarinia vs. Vespa soror (Vespidae)
In the latter third of the year, the giant Vespid hornets are on the wing foraging for carrion to feed their hives. Even if you don't see them, you can hear them searching through the canopy and amongst the leaf litter for prey. Once they locate something, the response is swift and ruthless.
In this case, the daddy of them all and the world's largest hornet, Vespa mandarinia had stumbled across a marginally smaller Vespa soror. Both would have had the same mission, but obviously the large V. mandarinia did not consider the V. soror too much of a risk. They both tumbled out of a tree onto the ground in a buzzing mass, and while I approached and took pictures, the smaller hornet had its head eaten and the rest of its body completely dismembered. In the end, the victor departed with only the thorax of its quarry on board. Potentially, it may have returned for the abdomen. The whole attack and butchering took just over a minute.
Multiple human casualities are reported annually in China from hornet attacks, which has earned them a reputation worthy of caution but probably not a true reflection of reality. I would guess the majority of attacks occur while rural folk are collecting the massive nests. The developing larval and pupal wasps are plucked from their paper cells and sold at market for frying as food and pickling as a traditional medicine. Although intimidating, I have been in very close proximity to many of these large hornets in the wild as individuals, and they either ignore you or display only a fleeting curiosity, before going on their way. As with most things, I am sure if I yelled hysterically and flailed my arms about, the response might be very different. I would NEVER knowingly approach a nest.
My experience has been that the smaller species such as Vespa velutina are far more aggressive away from the hive and will pester and pursue you, and may, in fact, be the culprits in many adverse hornet-human encounters. Unfortunately, the "burn it with fire" philosophy of the Chinese layman literally applies in all cases irrespective of species or intentions.
Pu'er, Yunnan, China
see comments for additional images of each of these species.....
no common name - pollen wasp - male
A few of these big colorful wasps were found around the summit of Mount Diablo. They are closely associated with various species of Penstomen and unusual amongst Vespids in that the larva are fed pollen and nectar rather than insects.
Fiori e insetti hanno ricevuto dal Sistema Naturale il ruolo di perfetti comunicatori. Il loro aspetto e, soprattutto, il loro colore trasmettono informazioni inequivocabili. E' un linguaggio primordiale ma efficacissimo, in cui i primi, ovvero i fiori, mirano a sedurre, mentre i secondi puntano a difendersi. Così è anche per questi astri marini e questa vespa: seducenti i fiori, con il loro splendido azzurro-violetto, allarmante la vespa, con il suoi colori aggressivi ..... ..
I was about to leave. Nothing was flying and I'd had a disappointing day. Then a movement caught my eye and I new I'd spotted an emerging Southern Hawker Dragonfly. It was moving very strangely though. Being about 10 feet [3m] away, it took me a few seconds to see it was being attacked by a Wasp. I sat and watched the drama play out, taking about 20 shots, this being a selective crop of one of them. The Vespid won but lost it's Kingsize meal when it fell into the pond!
Trying out my new Sigma 105mm Macro lens. So far I judge it as far sharper than my old Tamron 90mm Macro, and a lot less clunky to use as well.
Polistes chinensis is a polistine vespid wasp in the cosmopolitan genus Polistes, and is commonly known as the Asian, Chinese or Japanese paper wasp. It is found in East Asia, in particular China and Japan. The subspecies P. chinensis antennalis is an invasive species in New Zealand, having arrived in 1979
Sapyga centrata. A small vespid wasp that parasitizes the nests of Osmia and Megachile. This specimen from Tennessee, but no label information on it so can't recall who gave it to us. Lindsey Ugiansky did the picture taking...her first work!
~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~
All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish.
Photography Information:
Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200
We Are Made One with What We Touch and See
We are resolved into the supreme air,
We are made one with what we touch and see,
With our heart's blood each crimson sun is fair,
With our young lives each spring impassioned tree
Flames into green, the wildest beasts that range
The moor our kinsmen are, all life is one, and all is change.
- Oscar Wilde
You can also follow us on Instagram - account = USGSBIML
Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen:
Best over all technical resource for photo stacking:
Art Photo Book: Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World:
www.amazon.com/Bees-Up-Close-Pollinators-Around-World/dp/...
Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Maryland:
bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf
Basic USGSBIML set up:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY
USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4
Bees of Maryland Organized by Taxa with information on each Genus
www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections
PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up:
Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques:
plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo
or
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU
Excellent Technical Form on Stacking:
Contact information:
Sam Droege
sdroege@usgs.gov
301 497 5840
Sapyga centrata. A small vespid wasp that parasitizes the nests of Osmia and Megachile. This specimen from Tennessee, but no label information on it so can't recall who gave it to us. Lindsey Ugiansky did the picture taking...her first work!
~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~
All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish.
Photography Information:
Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200
We Are Made One with What We Touch and See
We are resolved into the supreme air,
We are made one with what we touch and see,
With our heart's blood each crimson sun is fair,
With our young lives each spring impassioned tree
Flames into green, the wildest beasts that range
The moor our kinsmen are, all life is one, and all is change.
- Oscar Wilde
You can also follow us on Instagram - account = USGSBIML
Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen:
Best over all technical resource for photo stacking:
Art Photo Book: Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World:
www.amazon.com/Bees-Up-Close-Pollinators-Around-World/dp/...
Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Maryland:
bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf
Basic USGSBIML set up:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY
USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4
Bees of Maryland Organized by Taxa with information on each Genus
www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections
PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up:
Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques:
plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo
or
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU
Excellent Technical Form on Stacking:
Contact information:
Sam Droege
sdroege@usgs.gov
301 497 5840
Autumn Sneezeweed or Common Sneezeweed - Helenium autumnale - is a native wildflower that grows to between 2 and 5 feet in height, as alternate, numeorus, narrowly lanceolate (but not linear or linear-filiform) leaves that are mostly toothed, and has yellow ray flowers 13-21 in number, 0.6-1.0 inch long, slightly reflexed, widely spaced, wedge-shaped, with 3 shallow lobes at the tip. The disks are yellow, hemispheric, and 0.3-0.8 inch wide. Flower heads are numerous and are seen September-October. Bitterweed - Helenium amarum - can be confused with this species but it has very thin, almost thread-like leaves that are usually less than 0.1 inch wide, while Autumn Sneezeweed has much wider leaves that are 0.2-1.6 inch wide. It also is a shorter plant, only growing 8-20 inches tall, and has fewer ray petals (5-10 instead of 13-21). Found in moist places throughout the eastern U.S. Also called False Sunflower, Staggerwort, Swamp Sunflower, and Yellow Star. Notwithstanding its common name, this plant doesn't cause sneezing or hay fever during the autumn – its pollen is distributed by insects, rather than the wind. A popular and important food source to many insects in the early fall, this species is visited by long-tongued bees, including honeybees, bumblebees, long-horned bees (Melissodes spp.), cuckoo bees (Coelioxys spp., Triepeolus spp.), leaf-cutting bees (Megachile spp.), Halictid bees, Sphecid wasps, Vespid wasps, Syrphid flies, butterflies, and beetles. Horn and Cathcart, Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians www.illinoiswildflowers.info/wetland/plants/sneezeweed.htm 4. Autumn Sneezeweed or Common Sneezeweed - Helenium autumnale
Dasylechia atrox (Williston 1883). Found at Pleasant Valley Conservancy SNA in southern Wisconsin. Dane County, Wisconsin, USA.
Prey is a vespid wasp of sorts. Found in oak/hickory forest/savanna.
My friend Mike Reese was leading a field trip looking for this species and other robber flies when he saw this beauty fly by in front of him carrying a bee and land on the topside of a branch in an oak tree a few meters off trail. It quickly moved to underside of branch, which was 6-7 feet up from forest floor. It proceeded to feed on the bee for over an hour before discarding it and subsequently taking this vespid wasp as prey.
Single exposure, uncropped, handheld, in situ. Canon MT-26EX flash unit, Ian McConnachie diffuser.
Dasylechia atrox (Williston 1883). Found at Pleasant Valley Conservancy SNA in southern Wisconsin. Dane County, Wisconsin, USA.
Prey is a vespid wasp of sorts. Found in oak/hickory forest/savanna.
My friend Mike Reese was leading a field trip looking for this species and other robber flies when he saw this beauty fly by in front of him carrying a bee and land on the topside of a branch in an oak tree a few meters off trail. It quickly moved to underside of branch, which was 6-7 feet up from forest floor. It proceeded to feed on the bee for over an hour before discarding it and subsequently taking this vespid wasp as prey.
Single exposure, uncropped, handheld, in situ. Canon MT-26EX flash unit, Ian McConnachie diffuser.
Vespid wasp from Kruger National Park in South Africa. This is one that we see periodically taking nips of nectar from some of the trees we study. No time to look up the species group, but likely it a social species of some kind. Large too, about the size of a bumblebee in length..,Photo by Erick Hernandez.
~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~
All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish.
Photography Information:
Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200
Beauty is nature's fact.
- Emily Dickinson
You can also follow us on Instagram - account = USGSBIML
Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen:
Best over all technical resource for photo stacking:
Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Maryland:
bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf
Basic USGSBIML set up:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY
USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4
Bees of Maryland Organized by Taxa with information on each Genus
www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections
PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up:
ftp://ftpext.usgs.gov/pub/er/md/laurel/Droege/How%20to%20Take%20MacroPhotographs%20of%20Insects%20BIML%20Lab2.pdf
Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques:
plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo
or
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU
Excellent Technical Form on Stacking:
Contact information:
Sam Droege
sdroege@usgs.gov
301 497 5840
German Wasp, ' Vespula germanica ',
Vespula Germanica, the German Wasp, has three small black spots on its face, This species makes greyish coloured nests underground, in hollow trees, or inside sheds and attics,
This is very like the Common Wasp but the yellow stripes on stripes on the pronotum bulge in the middle and the yellow band behind the eye is unbroken, The face usually has a triangle of three black spots, Nests are built in the same places as those of the Common Wasp but the paper is greyer, At rest, the wings are folded in longitudinal pleats along the sides of the body. Most species are black or brown with yellow or white markings.
Vespid's eyes are notched on the internal margins and may look crescent-shaped.
Note, Nest shape, colour, and location help to identify social wasps, which may look very similar, Wasps remove many garden pests to feed their larvae,
Order,- Hymenoptera.
Family,- Vespidae.
Species in Family,- 4,000.
Size,- 8-26mm.
Feeding,- Larvae; carnivorous. Adults; predators, liquid-feeders ( nectar ).
Impact,- Very beneficial but can sting.
An astronaut crash landed on a hellish planet densely populated by strange hothouse vegetation that seem to have an intelligence of their own...and carnivorous appetites. Every step needed to be taken with caution as unknown horrors awaited at every turn. A scan proved that life readings on this eerie planet are off the charts but sensors indicate that temperatures outside of his protective spacesuit were sweltering and the air consists of noxious gasses considered highly poisonous if breathed by humans. The astronaut notes that sprouting from the jungle landscape here and there are strange hexagonal shaped structures that are seemingly man made...or at least whatever equivalent to man this planet had to offer. Some had majestic spires that reach up to the heavens, others were merely hexagonal shaped sinkholes that lead underground to dark and unfathomable depths. He investigated one that is, like most of the others, overgrown with frightening plant life, but this one had remnants of what seems to be technology...what looked like a radar dish and perhaps a vine riddled communications antennae that loomed high above at a slight tilt.
His attention was diverted downward as a creeper vine wrapped itself around his leg. He reached down to unravel the vine but it only tightened its grip. A mild blast from his laser rifle was enough to dislodge the plant but soon he would realize this pesky vine would be the least of his problems. He heard a deep buzzing from above that was remnant of old fighter planes and he looked up just in time to see something with a swatch of yellow and black soar by at great speed. It was hidden behind great banyan trees and out of sight for just a brief moment but the giant swatch of yellow and black reemerged again to reveal itself to be a gigantic hornet! It circled the hexagonal structure again and again each time moving closer to the frightened astronaut...the intense buzz that it produced could be felt vibrating the ground and its swiftly beating wings violently moved the air and plants as a helicopter would. One pass in particular brought the hornet hovering very near the astronaut indeed. He could see clear details...its immense head the size of a hovercar pivoted this way and that as the hornet examined the astronaut as if trying to see him from all angles. Its antennas vibrated occasionally. The hornet seemed completely organic but upon closer inspection...a tiny vent here or a small port there...the bug seemed to be at least partially a machine...a vehicle of some kind. On its back, the astronaut could see a clear bubble canopy like a fighter jet would have and seated within it was a very strange alien being...seemingly the hornet’s pilot.
The hornet then perched silently atop the thin structure that the astronaut figured to be a communications antennae...its legs grasped the structure delicately. Still he was unsure if the apparent radar dish and other technology was broken and long abandoned or active and highly functioning, but one daunting thought had become abundantly clear; the hexagon is the shape favored by bees to build their honeycombs. Of course! This whole place, perhaps this entire planet is a honeycomb and the astronaut imagined there were legions more of the hornet’s kind probably very nearby. As the hornet perched silently above the astronaut kept perfectly still with his laser blaster aimed at the head of the immense insect above. He hoped that keeping still would make it so the giant insect would forget he was there...but the hornet was very much aware of his presence. Scans of its own revealed the strange little being to be a poisonous invader who had crashed in a craft of his own about four moots in the direction of Aark. It had pondered what to do with the little being...eat it...sting it...leave it. Vibrating its antennas, the hornet was sending and receiving telepathic signals from the rest of the hive. Every individual, with its hive-mind was now aware of the astronaut’s presence...even visual and sensory information was sent as if they had all discovered the little being first hand. The hive came to a final consensus: Capture it. Analyze it. Enslave it. Take it down below. Perhaps it’ll serve as nutrients for the larvae, perhaps its a better suited building material for our catacombs...perhaps it is best as a sacrificial offering to our Great Queen. We live to serve our Great Queen for she is all knowing and wise.
What happens next? You tell me. Enjoy.
Volucella zonaria ed una piccola vespa
Nikon D300 + Nikkor 300 AF-ED f4 (iso800 1/200s f/8) + CaptureNX
Oasi di Bentivoglio - Bologna - Italy
Sapyga centrata. A small vespid wasp that parasitizes the nests of Osmia and Megachile. This specimen from Tennessee, but no label information on it so can't recall who gave it to us. Lindsey Ugiansky did the picture taking...her first work!
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All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish.
Photography Information:
Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200
We Are Made One with What We Touch and See
We are resolved into the supreme air,
We are made one with what we touch and see,
With our heart's blood each crimson sun is fair,
With our young lives each spring impassioned tree
Flames into green, the wildest beasts that range
The moor our kinsmen are, all life is one, and all is change.
- Oscar Wilde
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Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen:
Best over all technical resource for photo stacking:
Art Photo Book: Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World:
www.amazon.com/Bees-Up-Close-Pollinators-Around-World/dp/...
Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Maryland:
bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf
Basic USGSBIML set up:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY
USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4
Bees of Maryland Organized by Taxa with information on each Genus
www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections
PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up:
Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques:
plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo
or
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU
Excellent Technical Form on Stacking:
Contact information:
Sam Droege
sdroege@usgs.gov
301 497 5840
Vespa ducalis
CAVEAT!!! As you probably know, it is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS to take photo without knowledge of this insect. See "Anaphylaxis to Insect Sting"
Camera: RICOH Caplio G4wide (1cm macro capability)
Image Size: 1280 * 1024 [Best viewed large]
Original photo taken by Mr. Akuben. (my friend)
Edited (rotation & crop) by Hiroo Yamada. (me)
I have a right to upload the photo to the public.
Polistes chinensis is a polistine vespid wasp in the cosmopolitan genus Polistes, and is commonly known as the Asian, Chinese or Japanese paper wasp. It is found in East Asia, in particular China and Japan. The subspecies P. chinensis antennalis is an invasive species in New Zealand, having arrived in 1979