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Wasp cluster

Photo by Tiz
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

About 4 meters above me, up in a tree those wasps was found. Blue wings, and a bright orange behind. About 2 cm in size.

Habitat:

Sparsely growing forest. (Hlane National Park)

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (7)
Tiz
Kel, I could not reach it :P Lauren, that is very interesting that the idea of them nesting somehow was comfirmed. We are getting closer to something :) John, thank you for your inteserting comment as well. The Mammoth wasp you linked to have similar blue shiny wings, and dark/black thorax. But I still hope to find an example with the furry orange abdomen.
LaurenZarate
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Scolia_dubia/
LaurenZarate
After John mentioned that they might be Scoliid wasps, I was reading that male Scoliids often aggregate for the night in groups. See this reference and the comments below the picture…..http://bugguide.net/node/view/140360. It is not your species, but lends criteria to the possibility that yours may be Scoliid males.
Sckel
ei, tina, porque voce não sacudiu o galho? :D
John La Salle
Very cool behaviour. They are so clustered that it is a bit hard to really make out individuals and what they might be. They look a bit like some of our Australian scoliid wasps - here are some pictures. http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:aea8a262-0cb2-4181-bc1c-87d19edcca9a#tab_gallery Of course, it wouldn't be the same species as over there - but you also have some similar wasps http://www.ispot.org.za/node/239253
Tiz
Well, did not study them much, it was about one hour from sunset and the cluster was just above my head, about two meters up... A bit tricky to follow the action :). They were quite inactive though. The nights was getting cooler at the time (down to 15 degrees celcius), so perhaps it is a way to save energy during night by nesting together. The closest I got to an individual wasp shot is photo no 2 unf.
LaurenZarate
Such an odd thing! What were they doing? It doesn't look like nest behavior. Were you able to get an individual wasp to see what they look like?

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Nests, hives, bowers, webs & other animal architecture
Photographed
PublishedMay 12, 2014

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