Insect sightings of the day & LJ Idol

[aggienaut]

This wasp literally just ended up in my hand, dead. It was quite peculiar. I went to pick something up out of the truck and suddenly it was in my hand. I don't think I killed it, I never noticed any struggle or crunch nor was it still quivering or anything. Dead as a door knob, magically in my hand. Weird. Anyway, according to my friend Dr Thorp it is a Thynnid Wasp (Family Tiphiidae), a male -- the females are wingless and often carried around at the tip of the abdomen of the male (?!?). They are parasites of beetle grubs.


And on that note! I think, possibly, if I magically managed to land one of the limited number of slots, I might be doing the "LJ Idol: Exhibit A" writing competition that's just about to begin.




And this is a fly of family Syrphidae which looks like a bee in order to discourage predators. It also randomly landed on my hand, but had the courtesy to be alive at the time.


Today I also saw a huge (9 inch long or so) stickbug. I have pictures but they're still on the camera.