Resurrecting the Rainbow - _TNY_4805
After dinner in the greenhouse today, I noticed an emerald wasp (aka cuckoo wasp) on the white wood between the windows.
Normally, when I stick my camera in their face they get moving, but not this one. He/she was literally dead tired after trying to get out of the hot greenhouse though the windows.
After snapping this photo, I tried moving it, but it just fell down on the window sill - crumbled up and looking dead.
I eventually managed to get it off there and onto the table and my mother-in-law gave me a cup with a little sugar water to attempt to get it up and running again.
I put a drop of suger water in front of it and moved it to it, but didn't get a reaction. Legs were still folded in under it and the antennae flat aginst the body.
After a little while with no improvement, I picked it up by the ends of th wings and literally stuck most of its head into the sugar water. Still not much of a reaction, but a foot began twitching!
Eventually a whole leg began to move, but not much else and I was prertty much giving up at this point - but I left it on/in the sugar water.
Finally, after fifteen minutes in the sugar, I decided this wasn't working and pulled it out - but it did! the tiny wasp began fluttering its wings a bit and actually walking around!
After the obligatory antennae grooming, it walked up onto my finger and I placed it on top of the bee hotel in the garden, looking just as speedy as it should.
The species is called Chrysis equestris and doesn't have a common English name, but the swedish one, "regnbågsguldstekel", meaning rainbow emerald wasp seems quite fitting., right?
Resurrecting the Rainbow - _TNY_4805
After dinner in the greenhouse today, I noticed an emerald wasp (aka cuckoo wasp) on the white wood between the windows.
Normally, when I stick my camera in their face they get moving, but not this one. He/she was literally dead tired after trying to get out of the hot greenhouse though the windows.
After snapping this photo, I tried moving it, but it just fell down on the window sill - crumbled up and looking dead.
I eventually managed to get it off there and onto the table and my mother-in-law gave me a cup with a little sugar water to attempt to get it up and running again.
I put a drop of suger water in front of it and moved it to it, but didn't get a reaction. Legs were still folded in under it and the antennae flat aginst the body.
After a little while with no improvement, I picked it up by the ends of th wings and literally stuck most of its head into the sugar water. Still not much of a reaction, but a foot began twitching!
Eventually a whole leg began to move, but not much else and I was prertty much giving up at this point - but I left it on/in the sugar water.
Finally, after fifteen minutes in the sugar, I decided this wasn't working and pulled it out - but it did! the tiny wasp began fluttering its wings a bit and actually walking around!
After the obligatory antennae grooming, it walked up onto my finger and I placed it on top of the bee hotel in the garden, looking just as speedy as it should.
The species is called Chrysis equestris and doesn't have a common English name, but the swedish one, "regnbågsguldstekel", meaning rainbow emerald wasp seems quite fitting., right?