Bad Clothes to Look Discreet, Pt. 2 - _TNY_8770
The normal behaviour for emerald wasps (aka cuckoo wasps) is to never be still. They dart around all the time which makes them difficult to shoot - something which is unfortunate with their amazingly coloured armour.
This one which I found at the bee hotel in the garden was a little different. She was watching a solitary wasp crawl into one of the holes and prepare it for her egg/larvae.
Emerald wasps are kleptoparasites and this one was staying still outside the hole, planning to dart in there and place her own egg and take advantage of the other wasp's hard work.
She stayed still for sevaral minutes - but I can't say she was diffucult to spot with such a rainbow of colours.
There was a wire mesh in front of the logs to prevent birds from making a smörgåsbord out of it, but I managed to shoot through the holes of it and just reach the wasp with the focus at the maximum available distance (this lens can't focus further away than 101 mm / 4").
There are several very similar-looking species in the Chrysis ignita complex, but the best guess my expert has come up with was Chrysis schencki with a big maybe in front of it.
Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52200547686/
Bad Clothes to Look Discreet, Pt. 2 - _TNY_8770
The normal behaviour for emerald wasps (aka cuckoo wasps) is to never be still. They dart around all the time which makes them difficult to shoot - something which is unfortunate with their amazingly coloured armour.
This one which I found at the bee hotel in the garden was a little different. She was watching a solitary wasp crawl into one of the holes and prepare it for her egg/larvae.
Emerald wasps are kleptoparasites and this one was staying still outside the hole, planning to dart in there and place her own egg and take advantage of the other wasp's hard work.
She stayed still for sevaral minutes - but I can't say she was diffucult to spot with such a rainbow of colours.
There was a wire mesh in front of the logs to prevent birds from making a smörgåsbord out of it, but I managed to shoot through the holes of it and just reach the wasp with the focus at the maximum available distance (this lens can't focus further away than 101 mm / 4").
There are several very similar-looking species in the Chrysis ignita complex, but the best guess my expert has come up with was Chrysis schencki with a big maybe in front of it.
Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52200547686/