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 There are many impressive flying insects on the wing during the summer months. Some due to their colours or intricate design and others are just large. In this last category fall the Carpenter bee, the Hornet and the Mammoth wasp. Many people flap their arms in fear at these airborne creatures - whereas standing still and observing them may be better practice. They are generally docile and quite attractive if viewed calmly. (Unless you are poking the hornets nest of course!)
We have already noticed the first Hornet activity this year out in the garden. Several were hunting for bees which I would presume to be the newly hatched queen hornets as all but the breeding ones are vegetarian. They flew around trees with heavily scented blossom and plucked honey bees out of the air. They took the fresh prey to a nearby branch (gory bit - dissected and dropped the head) and devoured their meal. Hornets create a new hive each year from scratch, starting with a single queen. Hornet (Vespa crabro) Avispón
Carpenter bees – imagine a bumble bee, double its size, paint it jet black in your mind’s eye and give it iridescent blue / violet wings. They are large, noisy, weigh down flowers with their bulk but can deftly avoid humans with their lumbered flight. If they enter the house it is usually to search for a suitable nest hole. They are solitary creatures and gained their common name due to their ability to make nest holes in dead would. Although they can do this they take the easier option of ready made holes in wood, metal, brick etc whenever possible. Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa violacea) Abeja azul
The Mammoth wasp is a long black insect with two yellow stripes on the abdomen and a yellow face if female. This has a complicated lifecycle as the Mammoth wasp parasitizes a beetle larva. At the moment there are 6 or more flying around each large rotten tree stump in the garden. They all seem to be males and are probably waiting for the females to emerge. Later in the summer, when they have settled down they are much easier to observe feeding off flowers, with alliums being a favourite. Mammoth Wasp (Megascolia (Regiscolia) maculata flavifrons) Avispa parasita de cuatro puntas. A few days on and the females are now active, noticeable in flight as they are longer in body so less agile, slower and louder than the males.
The aptly named Thread-waisted wasps have just started to emerge. These again have wasp like yellow / black colours and are also people friendly. They search out shaded, protected places to create their mud nests and the back of a picture frame seems an ideal choice. They carefully roll up a tiny ball of mud outside, fly with it into the house, deposit it, shape it and return with more tirelessly throughout the day. They produce a hollow tube and next to this they make another and another fanning the wet mud with their wings to assist the drying process. Thread-waisted Wasp (Sceliphron spirifex)
The highlighted links will open up a page for each with more details of their lifecycles and images.
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