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Cuckoo wasp

Chrysididae

Photo by sunnyjosef
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

Brightly colored wasp. Size is about 10mm. These insects are aptly called Cuckoo wasps because just like a female Cuckoo, these wasps break into other wasp's nest, especially the mud dauber wasp's and lay eggs on the developing larvae. The hatched larvae feed on the now doomed larvae and comes out fully developed.

Habitat:

Spotted near a carpenter bee nest.

Reference Links:

Cuckoo wasp

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (8)
sunnyjosef
@Faith, They don't sting normally unless we try to handle them. Thank you.
Faith
How did you get so close up without being stung?your zoom must be really powerful!the wasp looks awesome!

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Arthropods parasitised by other arthropods
Mission
2015 Best Wildlife Photo
Photographed
PublishedSeptember 5, 2015

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