Say Hello to my Little Friend!

[aggienaut]

Wasp wipes sweat off her brow on a hot day.


Well I'm pretty sure they don't sweat, but she had gone for a swim immediately prior to the photo.


Technical note: Also for those following along at home I'm sure this is in the Polistes genus. I'm going to wildly guess Polistes dominulus, but that's only really because I know it doesn't have the distinctive markings of P. aurifer or P. exclamans. She lacks the black stripes typical of dominulus though, so I'll get back to you one that.


I have also put the rest of my pictures of wasps, bumblebees, yellowjackets, dragonsflies and other things that have randomly landed on my hand to be photographed.


[LJ-Cut]
   And yes I'm a jerk who doesn't put huge pictures behind lj cuts. You just can't be in-your-face with a scary close-up of a wasp if it's behind an lj cut! If you're still bothered, here's another picture for you.

Comments

[superhappytime.livejournal.com]

You are totally in love with things that sting.

Things that Sting

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

...which explains why I hang out with painindesire ;D

Re: Things that Sting

[superhappytime.livejournal.com]

not to mention why you stole someone's shoes.

Re: Things that Sting

[painindesire.livejournal.com]

Shoes.....zuh?

Re: Things that Sting

[boxsofrain.livejournal.com]

He didn't steal my shoes, I lost them but he returned them.

Oh, and @ Kris, that bee picture is gross!

Re: Things that Sting

[painindesire.livejournal.com]

I don't sting, darlings, I bite!

Re: Things that Sting

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

;D

[beki.livejournal.com]

I am surprised you could get him/her/it to sit and pose for you just like that. I was under the impression that they will sting first and ask questions later because they don't die like a bee does once you get stung. Do they get along mostly with bees? I thought that wasps generally stung another insect and laid an egg in it etc?

Wasps

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Wasps are carnivorous so yes they do like to feast on others, and specifically, they do have a nefarious habit of paralyzing and inserting eggs. However, they seem to cohabitate with the bees pretty well -- I find their nests IN beehives and they use the same water sources pretty well.

Another thing I learned the other day is they're pretty good at landing on water and standing on the water tension like water striders (something honeybees are entirely unable to do). However they not infrequently fall in (but are good at getting out again.). I put my finger in and let it crawl on my finger ... but it was up and away before I could get a shot! I did this several times, and then I got a little devilish myself and sprinkled drops of water on one that was already down (I know I'm mean) to get it thoroughly wet, and THEN "rescued" it. While it was cleaning itself off on my finger I had ample time to take several shots. :D

Re: Wasps

[beki.livejournal.com]

They actually live in the hives? Don't the bees try to eradicate them? I would think they'd want to prevent getting eaten. If not the worker bees, then to at least protect the queen.

Re: Wasps

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if they actually prey on bees. I think there usual prey are things that are more helpless like catepillars. On any account the bees seem relatively bad at keeping things out of their hive (or maybe just tolerant of or downright hospitable) -- like I said I've found wasp nests in living colonies (never fully occupied ones though, usually its where the bees are only on a few frames and then the wasp nest is at the far end), miscellenous bugs, and occasionally black widows! (who DO eat bees). I'd imagine the black widow is more than a match for an individual bee but you'd think they'd rush it or something.

[stiobhan.livejournal.com]

Holy wow -- what a great shot!

Good shots

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Thanks. (:

Speaking of good shots, you gonna do ljshootout? (:

[nefariousvirus.livejournal.com]

Dude you're like freaken amazing...


but if I ever saw you and you brought bee's I would prob run screaming.


I've never been stung by a bee so i don't know if I am allergic :P

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

:D

[lotjeisgraaf.livejournal.com]

Wasps are evil. But that is a pretty good picture :-p

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

(: thanks

[heethen-crone.livejournal.com]

Great picture. Thanks for sharing.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Thanks (:

[blue-eye.livejournal.com]

Whoa! Beautiful picture! You are brave though, letting that thing on your finger! I'm scared of wasps and bees.

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

You look way more worried about the stickbug in one of your photos than you do of any of the stinging critters. Which is totally silly of course.

I miss my stickbugs.

[beyondfake-0.livejournal.com]

My mom has a little hive of paper wasps under her picknick table. They are so cute, and they leave us alone.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

I used to be scared of them because they LOOK scary, but they really are pretty unlikely to sting

[frozendoll.livejournal.com]

Pretty!
On a random side note, i rescued one from out of my brothers pool the other day, well not a wasp, but a big fat buzzy bumblebee. :)

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

aw cute

[fsk8ing-judge.livejournal.com]

Great photos, and I LOL at the first two lines.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

:D