Flying Bumble Bee (Bombus huntii)

arge bumble bee (Bombus huntii) flies toward the camera after collencting nectar from a rhododendron flower

Colorful Wasp (Sphex habenus)

Wasps are noted for their reproductive sculduggery. Most depend upon a host insect of another species, and they engage in various forms of kidnapping and poisoning to make this happen. The host is usually kept alive in a state of paralysis until newly hatched young are hungry and ready to eat. There are a thousand variations of this tale, and the complexity involved can be astounding. It is the stuff of horror films.


From IMDB entry for Ridley Scott's ALIEN movie:  The alien's habit of laying eggs in the chest (which later burst out) was inspired by spider wasps, which are said to lay their eggs "in the abdomen of spiders." This image gave Dan O'Bannon nightmares, which he used to create the story. But spider wasps (pompilidae) lay eggs on their prey, not inside them, after which the wasp maggots simply snack on the sting-paralyzed spiders. O'Bannon may instead have been thinking of either ichneumon wasps or braconid wasps. The ichneumon drills a single egg into a wood-boring beetle larva, whereas braconids inject eggs inside certain caterpillars. Both result in fatal hatch-outs more alike to O'Bannon's alien.


This particular wasp is known for going after katydid nymphs. It is large and colorful with a painful sting.



colorful male wasp (Sphex habenus) (Family Sphecidae)

Great Golden Digger Wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus)

Wasps carry a vicious reputation for a generally mean disposition. It is well deserved. Of course, not all wasps are aggressive or quick to administer a painful sting, but it is wise to give them some distance unless you want to find out for yourself.


As warning, they typically flag themselves with gaudy colors - which makes them rather attractive to photograph...



Great Golden Digger Wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus)

More Fun With Parasites

A few posts back I mentioned the carrion beetle (Nicrophorus carolinensis). In keeping with the theme of parasites*, I am sharing another view of the same beetle with a detailed view of a few extra passengers.



carrion beetle (Nicrophorus carolinensis)


Watching the beetle, I could see the little white mites skittering across the beetle as it walked and flew about. It must be quite a ride for the little insects. Below is a detailed view of the same image with the mite clearly visible on the neck, and few more on the chest. It would roughly be equivalent of having a full size crab wandering around on a human.



carrion beetle (Nicrophorus carolinensis) detail with mites


I posted these images to Flickr for hosting here, and a fellow Flickr alaskanent user posted this comment:

Nice shot! The mites are not parasitic however. They are mutualistic in some cases (beneficial) and in others commensalistic (the mites benefit but the beetles are neither harmed nor helped) and only in rare cases do they actually qualify as parasites. The mites eat fly eggs, thus cleaning carcasses of competitors so there is more food for the beetles.

Click Beetle / Eyed-Elater (family elateridae)

Interesting beetle with a curious adaption. When adult click beetles (Elateridae) are placed on their backs, they have the ability to flip themselves over, sometimes going several inches into the air. This is done when the beetle arches its body, then suddenly snaps a pointed projection on the bottom of its prothorax into a small groove on the mesothorax. The eyed click beetle has two spots on its pronotum that resemble eyes, which may frighten predators, especially when the beetle flips into the air...



Click Beetle / Eyed-Elater (family elateridae) flying at night.

Six-Spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata)

The naturalist, J. B. S. Haldane, was asked by a cleric about what he might infer about the Creator, based on his wide ranging study of life. Haldane supposedly replied that the creator had "an inordinate fondness for beetles" based on the then current count of beetle species at around 400,000.

Beetles are the largest of insect orders, and therefore one of the widest spread and most successful orders of life on Earth. 

They demonstrate tremendous diversity, and come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors...

One of the most colorful beetles I have photographed is the tiger beetle.

six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata)

They are aggressive, voracious predators with lightning quick moves.

six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata)

Never mind that it took me three days to photograph one in flight.

six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata)

flying six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata)

Native Green Bee (Andrena ilicis)

This lovely native bee was buzzing around the blooms of a flowering tree in Travis County, Texas. 



native green bee (Andrena ilicis)



native green bee (Andrena ilicis)


Notice this older worker (below), covered in pollen and with tattered wings, as she approaches the end of her useful life.