Thanks for the comments all First decent shots I've got of one of these all year
Tim - these guys smell with their antennae so tend to home in on likely smells with them. Ichneumons are even more amazing to watch when they are smelling a prey under bark- the antennae look like dowsing rods and arc down when it's found something interesting.
John- no it didn't find any whilst I was watching anyway
Wonderful series, Brian. How long did it take you to get this series of shots? And, if the wasp was cognizant of your presence, did you have to freeze/back off many times to get the series?
Kenj8246 wrote:
Wonderful series, Brian. How long did it take you to get this series of shots? And, if the wasp was cognizant of your presence, did you have to freeze/back off many times to get the series?
Kenny
Thanks kenny
The shots were taken in a 1.5 minute period judging by the date/time stamps. No I took the shots fairly quickly once the wasp decided to settle and explore. I had been following around the bush for a few minutes before it settled for this sequence.
THanks Adrian and Amy for the comments.
The last shot is shameless anthropomorphism It was actually cleaning it's eyes after sticking it's head in the flower
Nice set. After seeing another set of yours, I started watching wasps in my tomato garden. I watched one go medieval on a caterpillar, squeezing the crap out of it (literally).
