Garden visitors

in #insectslast year

wasp.jpg

Pyrrhoscolia fax is a wasp that parasitizes beetle larvae. I've often seen them digging and wondering what they were up to. Seems they were hunting grubs to sting, paralyse and lay their eggs in. I'm happy if they hunt in the vegetable garden, they keep the grubs from gnawing the roots.

Then in the category of "what could possibly go wrong?" I found these 2 at it

mantis.jpg

They were mating for a while so I left them to it. Later, they were both gone so I wasn't sure whether he'd survived the encounter or not

Sort:  

It's a real pity that people are so hell-bent on killing wasps whenever they see them, they are such important predators

They are scary though and I'm highly allergic, I found out the hard way. I do leave them in peace because these are all in the category of "leave me alone and I'll leave you alone". The paper wasps are a different story though, they are extremely territorial and like to nest right outside my front door. I have to get rid of them when the nests become too large.

That's a pity, he looks really metal. I've seen these guys going to nest in pine trees at night

They have been very busy in my garden over the years and I welcome them

Hehe that male mantis looks very nervous

Well, he has big wings and she's extremely pregnant so maybe he got away

So long as he doesn't feel all sleepy when he's done

What a life! I had a lot of them in my vegetable garden last year because eggs were laid there. They are such useful predators