View allAll Photos Tagged vespid
The wasp
Vespula germanica
Family Vespidae
Order: Hymenoptera
The Dragonfly
Hemicordulla tau
Family: Corduliidae
Order: Odenata
The wasp brought down the wasp and, in remarkably short order, had started to chop it up and eat it while it was still moving.
It illustrates the threat posed by European wasps to our wildlife which have not evolved to deal with this predator and are naive to the threat.
This was in the Tidbinbilla Wildlife reserve which is under pressure from these Vespid invaders.
It is easy to confuse with other species such as the Australian Emerald (see one of my other photographs). A useful identifier is the leading edge of the wing is black in H. australiae , whereas in the Tau Emerald, H. tau the leading edge is yellow..
DSC09506 copy
I found this large black and yellow wasp (Hymenoptera) hiding under a leaf of Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia, Fagaceae) in the woods today. It was overcast and on the cool side for a change, so I reckon the wasp was waiting for it to warm up. At first the wasp looks like other social Vespid Wasps (family Vespidae), but I'm not so sure - for one thing, it doesn't have enough black on its abdomen, which is not petiolate like the one in this photo. I'm not sure, and I won't try to guess what it is, but any help with ID will be appreciated. (San Marcos Pass, 6 October 2020)
It was cloudy and cooler all morning, a remnant of Tropical Storm Marie up from Baja. It mostly cleared up in the afternoon, and it warmed up into the mid-80s. There was the usual annoying breeze all morning. A few days ago, we were near 100°. It was cooler today and yesterday, and I have been finding spiders for the Arachtober group after almost being skunked over the weekend. I guess it really can be too hot for spiders and insects.
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.
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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
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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:
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
The orange "hot poker flowers" (also called a "torch lily" ) in my garden always seem to attract a lot of hornets and wasps, rarely bees and almost never butterflies.
This is a beautiful Vespid Wasp (Vespidae, Hymenoptera) on a flowering shrub of native composite Scale Broom (Lepidospartum squamatum) in the Asteraceae plant family by the river. I believe this one is a Paper Wasp (genus Polistes) - maybe Polistes dorsalis californicus, but there are a number of these wasps with "desert colors" like this - all handsome. I usually only see these wasps near the end of summer, and I've never seen their nests. (Paradise, Santa Ynez River, 14 September 2015)
Réalisé le 09 juillet 2020 au Moulin du Portage, Leclercville, comté de Lotbinière, Québec.
cliquez sur la photo pour l'agrandir / click on the photograph to enlarge it.
Taken on July, 9th / 2020 at Moulin du Portage, Leclercville, Lotbiniere county, Quebec.
Not exactly "pretty" by Buprestid jewel beetle standards, but this large fellow made a grand entrance by landing on my hatted head with a pre-emptive whirr of wings (which makes you brace for impact) and a heavy thud.
Large noisy flying objects are not unusual here and in such circumstances there is that sense of excitement and dread as you slowly and carefully remove your hat to see who has assaulted you. It could be a cicada, a grasshopper, any number of large beetles (scarabs, longhorns or wood-borers like this one), a giant Tessaratomid stink bug or a giant Vespid hornet (in order of increasing dread).
Pu'er, Yunnan, China
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
Non sono riuscito a determinare questo vespide: la mia modestissima cultura entomologica me lo ha impedito, purtroppo. Ne ho tuttavia ammirata la splendida livrea, i colori e il messaggio minaccioso e inquivocabile che ne deriva. Ancora una volta la Natura mi ha stupito, dimostrandomi che si può essere in maschera per l'intera esistenza ed esprimere con il solo aspetto, messaggi efficacissimi. Anche questo è bellezza, che contrasta con lo scialbo aspetto della scimmia umana, che poco o nulla riesce a comunicare ..... ..
Thai Wasp, unsure of exact species but can confirm their stings as incredibly painful! I will not be poking my lens into their nests again anytime soon...
I Vespidi (Vespidae), comunemente noti come vespe, sono una famiglia di insetti sociali dell'ordine degli Imenotteri.
Le vespe sono insetti sociali: le loro società comprendono femmine sterili, operaie, ed una o più femmine fertili dette regine. I maschi appaiono solo nel periodo riproduttivo.
il livello di socialità delle vespe, anche se spesso complessa ed affascinante, è meno "evoluta" di quella delle api e di molte specie di formiche che rappresentano gli esempi evolutivi più alti della socialità fra gli insetti.
Gli adulti delle vespe si cibano di nettare dei fiori ma predano piccoli insetti per integrare la dieta delle larve che allevano nel nido. Le vespe producono anche piccole quantità di miele che usano sia per nutrire le larve che per rapporti sociali attraverso trofallassi.
Le femmine sono dotate di un aculeo velenoso che utilizzano esclusivamente per difesa e la puntura è dolorosa, in alcuni casi pericolosa perché potenziale scatenante di forme allergiche. In tal senso, la vespa più pericolosa è spesso considerata il calabrone, anche se recenti studi[sembrano dimostrare che questa specie non sia in realtà particolarmente aggressiva verso gli esseri umani.
Il nido è alto 60 cm e le celle sono il triplo di quelle delle Vespe comuni: si tratta di un NIDO DI CALABRONI (Vespa crabro Linnaeus , 1761, è il più grosso Vespide europeo), una volta tutto all'interno del tronco. Successivamente è crollata la parete troppo sottile del Pioppo in decomposizione e così ora si può ammirare l'opera d'ingegneria urbanistica residenziale. Un'opera inimmaginabile!
Female Lasioglossum (Australictus) peraustrale on Calytrix tetragona flowers. She is holding her wings open to further her wasp impression. [Faulconbridge, Blue Mountains, NSW]
More boiler for your plate. These are old MOCs updated with more recent parts and construction techniques. Another episode in the exciting "Evolution of a MOC" series.
Or, "How one fighter became six."
From left to right: SF-68C Starwasp II(heavy), SF-62D Stinger II (light), SF-66C Hornet II(medium).
Gallery when ready.
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.
Una cosa mai vista in vita mia. Le celle sono grandi il triplo di quelle di un nido di Vespe normali.
Il nido è alto 60 cm.
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.
Vespula squamosa - The Southern Yellow Jacket....the two yellow racing stripes on the top of the thorax (scutum) are diagnostic in the SE U.S. Collected by Tim McMahon from Talbot County, Maryland, Notice the notched compound eyes characteristic of most vespids.
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.
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.
Ici une Guêpe vient de Polliniser une Orchidée
Guêpe : Hyménoptère Vespides Polistes-Dominula
Orchidée : Hybride Epipactis Distans-Helleborine
A blackjacket gorges on milkweed pollen. The species builds pot-shaped nests. We'd better check our eaves...
A species of Vespid paper wasp (Polistes gallicus, aka P. foederatus) is drawn to the copious store of nectar in this flower.
The African native flower, the Red Hot Poker plant, also known as a Torch Lily (Kniphofia sp.) stands about 4 feet tall in my garden. I planted this stunning perennial garden flower because it's tubular flowers were supposedly attractive to hummingbirds. In 7 years I have never seen a hummingbird in my yard, but many insects, including wasps climb deep inside the tubes for the nectar.
The other day while walking past my car I saw a paper wasp fly into the gap between the door and quarter panel on my car. I opened the door to find they had started building a nest in there since I hadn't driven my car in over a month.
This particular group is living in one of the redwood trees in my backyard. It was interesting to watch them. They would stationary for a minute or two and then begin moving again.
When we first moved to California, like many people we mistook them for Yellow Jackets. They are not; they are much more docile and beneficial.
This is the ventral side of the posterior end of a paper wasp, likely Polistes dominula. This is an invasive species of vespid wasp.
This individual was trapped while building a nest on my house and killed using Ethyl Acetate.
Photographed on a Nikon SM stereo microscope with episcopic and diascopic lighting using a Sony NEX 5N and a Leica MIKAS 1/3X adapter. Focus stacked image from 20 originals.
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.
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.