Wow us with wasps

[ItsMeLucy]

This is in part inspired by an Observation by @isopodguy. On that, I made the following comment:

It is amazing how diverse and different wasps are. They have a terrible reputation unfortunately but are quite charming when you look at them individually.

I also am of course inspired by this recent thread.

All this leads to (drumroll)…

Show us a charming wasp! (It does not have to be your own Observation.)

Here is one of mine:

(I identified it super tentatively two years ago as a member of Podagrion, but as it is on an enormous, fruiting Ficus maxima in the garden, it is likely whatever the wasp is for that.)

Regardless of what it is, it is ridiculously charming, with its long ovipositor, festive antennae, the set of its back legs and swirl of colors. Not to mention those red eyes! It just feels special.

The wasp I see the most often though, and my favorite is Brachygastra mellifica, the Mexican Honey Wasp. These are wonderful, charming wasps that (in addition to producing honey) pollinate avocadoes and are beneficial to citrus groves. Also they are quite cute, I think, with their stripes and the yellow masks the younger ones have.

Please share a wasp or two (or three!)

And thank you to @isopodguy for inspiring this and especially to all the Hymenoptera identifiers.

[upupa-epops]

Great topic!

Here’s a Black Giant Ichneumonid Wasp:

I have yet to see any of the other the more colourful species in that genus, they look stunning. I have however found a dead specimen of their host species, another large colourful wasp!

This wasp kept hovering on top of this ant for some reason:

Finally here’s a grass-carrying wasp that’s just finished chewing off a piece of grass, and proceeded to carry it away:

I’ve also seen this species carrying katydid prey. Interestingly that species of katydid is non-native here, while the wasp is present as a non-native in Europe where the katydid is native!

[susanne-kasimir]

This wasp is probably not very cute - especially if you are a honeybee - but definitely WOW - to be able to fly with this prey of nearly the same size.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/91973254
Beewolf - Philanthus triangulum with honeybee - Apis mellifera

[isopodguy]

Here’s one I found.
Where I live, these guys have a very sinister reputation as “blackjackets.” Supposedly, they are more aggressive than yellowjackets, but people often get this species mixed up with similar ones such as the actual blackjacket.
I’m not sure if it was dying or what, but this particular wasp let me pick it up without any aggression and I let it go after I got some photos.
Northern Red-banded Yellowjacket

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/236347407

[wildwestnature]

Eastern Cicada Killer Sphecius speciosus looked pretty intimidating: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/176834268

Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus four-banded stink bug hunter wasp, a sand wasp. Getting photos required patience! https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/169225082

European paper wasp Polistes dominula attacking a common green darner: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/234190728

[Thunderhead]

I didn’t realize how many different wasps I have observed! Nine species of Ichneumonid and Braconid Wasps alone! Here’s some I found interesting

[DianaStuder]

Paper wasps

Invasive wasps

and spider wasps this obs from a shiny new iNatter
(will never forget the first time I saw a medium sized wasp … dragging one of our ‘tarantulas’ - but paralysed first

[ItsMeLucy]

WOW, the grappling hooks on the spider wasps’ feet! Amazing!

edit to add: we have paper wasps here but yours look sporty, like they are wearing rugby jerseys.

[arboretum_amy]

Velvet “ants” are wasps, and they are fuzzy! The females have no wings. Someone told me they can squeek when bothered, although I have never bothered one.

(My photo)

(Credit @kueda )

[arboretum_amy]

See how beautiful the steel-blue cricket hunter

[danly]

I am fond of this pretty Common Blue Mud-dauber Wasp

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/121174671

and this Great Golden Digger Wasp

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/55589292

and just for good measure, here’s a Blackjacket

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/92121111

[jasonhernandez74]

Gall wasps still count as wasps even if we only have observations of the galls, right?

I find it fascinating how different the galls can be within a single genus of wasps (Andricus) and host plants (Quercus).

In the southeastern US, the Southern Live Oak hosts an Andricus with bristly galls:

Whereas in the California mountains, the Canyon Live Oak hosts an Andricus with much simpler, spindle-shaped galls:

[ItsMeLucy]

Two more the shape of which I find extraordinary:

Evania appendiagaster, the Blue-Eyed Ensign Wasp, not only looks really cool with its long parts and startlingly blue eyes, it is also the enemy of my enemy. This is to say while I see them usually visiting plants in the garden, I also know they are parasitoids of cockroach eggs. Accordingly I like to greet them with smiles and welcome hellos.

Twice I have observed Trypoxylon, two different species I think, both still undetermined. Both times my mind has just been blown. In flight they are quite agile considering they are just so… extra.

[isopodguy]

I thought I’d share a couple more.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/250623087

This guy is pretty cute.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/247654435

[giannamaria]

I have a few!

Genus Polistes has some pretty species: This P. dominula and this P. fuscatus, both photographed this September, were both beautiful an interesting to watch:

This huge ichnuemon wasp was the first of its kind I saw:

[isopodguy]

That northern paper wasp is amazing!

[giannamaria]

Thank you! I love the big spots on the sides of the abdomen. Such a beautiful wasp!

[oksanaetal]

@giannamaria

This huge ichnuemon wasp was the first of its kind I saw:

Thank you for my new recurring nightmare.

[egordon88]

This metallic blue cricket hunter is awesome, no?

[isopodguy]

Ichneumon wasps are some of the strangest ones out there. The tubes on their abdomens insert eggs into another larval insect in the bark of a tree or log.