#cuckoo wasps

[ljsbugblog]

a tiny Cuckoo Wasp, pausing her forage for a quick rest.

I very rarely witness cuckoo wasps at rest, and its even rarer that they allow me to get close, so I am especially pleased with this photo.

Unknown Cuckoo Wasp (family Chrysididae).

[celestialmacros]

How are these colors possible in nature?

Caenochrysis sp., a member of the cuckoo wasps

June 27, 2023

John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, Tinicum, Pennsylvania

[ichbineinkriechend]

found a baby today!!!

[ID: Three pictures of a cuckoo wasp (Goldwespe), sitting on a grape leaf. Its front half is a shiny blue, its back half is a shiny red. End ID]

[oujibat]

Tfw you take wood from outside to use for your aquarium hardscape and you don’t boil it yet because you’re doing a dry start method for your carpeting plants and the combined heat, light, and moisture bring the cuckoo wasp in the wood out from hibernation too early in the year to be released outside bc it’s still too cold so it takes you two whole days to safely(her species has no stinger I need to worry about, I was more worried about hurting or losing her in my house) wrangle her into a secure container to care for her til warmer weather comes.

Her name is Gemma and she’s the size of a grain of rice.

She lives here now and I drip feed her sugar water through a paper wick; punched all the air holes myself don’t worry.

[herpsandbirds]

Cuckoo Wasp (Morphochrysis sp.), family Chrysididae, Ribatejo, Portugal

photograph by Ricardo Gonçalves

[crevicedwelling]

although the word wasp might make you think of a yellow-and-black eusocial insect, the majority of wasps are solitary parasites that come in a dazzling array of colors and sizes and shapes.

cuckoo wasps (Chrysididae) are some of the most fantastically iridescent wasps and insects in general. their common name comes from the fact that they are typically parasites or kleptoparasites that lay their eggs in the nests of solitary wasps and bees where the chrysidid larvae hatch and consume the other wasp’s larva and the food its mother stocked the nest with.

this species, Pseudomalus auratus, doesn’t bother with sneaking around other wasps’ nests—it oviposits on aphids instead! if a wasp like Pemphredon that stocks its nest with aphids captures one that carries a Pseudomalus egg, the egg hatches and her hard work will have gone into feeding a cuckoo wasp instead.

P. auratus is actually native to northern Eurasia, but was thought to have been accidentally introduced to the US about 200 years ago, perhaps in the hollow stems of horticultural plants where Pemphredon & similar aphid wasps nest.

[pixelarthropods]

I saw on tumblr some bees/wasp so I decided to make em! I rebloged the post where I saw em so you can find em easier!

Honeysuckle Sawfly, Cuckoo Wasp, Spilomyia Fusca! I hope you guys like em!

[onenicebugperday]

European cuckoo wasp, Euchroeus purpuratus, Chrysididae

Females are orange/purple and males are blue/green

Photos by Frank Deschandol // Instagram

Shared with permission; do not remove credit or re-post!

[miyrumiyru]

Huge emerald jewel wasp ✧✭

Emerald Cuckoo Wasp (Stilbum cyanurum)

Tatarian Aster (Aster tataricus)

[a-wasp-in-the-hand]

she hung out with me while i was processing nettle fiber

Chrysis sp. , likely angolensis

9/3/23

[celestialmacros]

Aah, shiny

Cuckoo wasp (Hedychrum sp.)

August 11, 2024

Southeastern Pennsylvania

[jupiterswasphouse]

[VIDEOS TAKEN: JULY 26TH, 2024 | Video IDs: Three videos stitched together, the first featuring the camera inching up a brown wooden post, stopping on a hole containing some kind of black, wood boring wasp resting inside. In the second, in the same post, a different hole has been stolen by another wasp, a metallic green cuckoo wasp, which is presented and focused on in the same way. In the last, a small grey jumping spider is eye-to-eye with the cuckoo wasp, the wasp investigating it before going deeper into the hole, leaving the spider to keep looking for just a moment before deciding to pass it by /End IDs.]

An honest worker, a thief, aaand said thief having a face to face interaction with a hunter on the prowl ^^

[cypherdecypher]

Animal of the Day!

Metallic Bluish-Green Cuckoo Wasp (Chrysis angolensis)

(Photo by Yunhyok Choi)

Conservation Status- Unlisted

Habitat- Southeastern Asia

Size (Weight/Length)- 120 mm

Diet- Nectar

Cool Facts- The metallic bluish-green cuckoo wasps have brilliant coloring that comes from tiny pits covering their exoskeleton, resulting in light bouncing off them to make them glittery. Named after the cuckoo bird, the cuckoo wasp is parasitic in their egg laying. Finding solitary bee or wasp nests, the metallic bluish-green cuckoo wasp lays her own eggs alongside the brood. The parasitic larva eats its host’s offspring and monopolizes food brought by its foster parent. When a cuckoo wasp is caught by a bee trying to lay its eggs, the bee goes on attack. The cuckoo wasp then curls into a ball to prevent it from being stung.

Rating- 11/10 (Beautiful but terrible parents.)

[herpsandbirds]

look at this cool bug I found!

Critter Submission:

What a beaut!!! This is definitely a cuckoo wasp, family Chrysididae.

It looks very much like the common and cosmopolitan Metallic Bluish-green Cuckoo Wasp (Chrysis angolensis).

Species Chrysis angolensis - BugGuide.Net

[textless]

It’s been another odd year, and I didn’t get out much.  Nonetheless, here are five of my favorite photos from 2022 for the Gray-Card Memorial Top 5:

Cuckoo wasp

Outside Salt Lake City

Praying mantis (tiny)

Praying mantis (grown)

Sunrise over the house down the street

Thanks to @luxlit for hosting, and happy new year, all.

[keeskiwi]

Didn't realize until I was done that I had made her bisexual?