Ressurecting the Rainbow, Pt. 4 - _TNY_4810
After having dinner in the greenhouse at my mother-in-law's, 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 all afternoon.
After snapping this photo: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53034793528/, 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 (my MIL's large tomato plants in the way) and took this shot of it in my hand before dropping it onto the table. Then my mother-in-law came in with an assist and gave me a cup with a little sugar water to attempt to get the wasp up and running again.
At first, I put a drop of sugar 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 against the body like it is in this photo.
After a little while with no improvement, I picked it up by the ends of the wings and literally stuck most of its head into the sugar water (as pictured here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53065396272/ - 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 mandatory antennae grooming, it walked up onto my finger (www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53498042956/) and I went outside and placed it on top of the bee hotel in the garden, looking just as speedy as it should: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53429153570/
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?
Ressurecting the Rainbow, Pt. 4 - _TNY_4810
After having dinner in the greenhouse at my mother-in-law's, 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 all afternoon.
After snapping this photo: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53034793528/, 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 (my MIL's large tomato plants in the way) and took this shot of it in my hand before dropping it onto the table. Then my mother-in-law came in with an assist and gave me a cup with a little sugar water to attempt to get the wasp up and running again.
At first, I put a drop of sugar 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 against the body like it is in this photo.
After a little while with no improvement, I picked it up by the ends of the wings and literally stuck most of its head into the sugar water (as pictured here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53065396272/ - 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 mandatory antennae grooming, it walked up onto my finger (www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53498042956/) and I went outside and placed it on top of the bee hotel in the garden, looking just as speedy as it should: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53429153570/
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?