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Mammoth wasp

Megascolia maculata

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Field Notes

Description:

It is mammoth wasp male. I took the photo after a rainy night. The wasp was climbing a grass and I offered him my finger and he accepted. Eventually he took off.

Habitat:

It was a grassy area between the road and the sidewalk surrounded by a low hedge of privet. Some two years ago a dying tree was cut down here. I observed here a number of males circulating over the surface looking for females. I also spotted a European rhinoceros beetle here.

Notes:

I took almost 60 pictures of male wasps on the same area this spring. You can see them in this Google album:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fhw5WmgRHQEhEqg76
I have not seen any femal though, but I had taken photos of females previously in the same town (Törökbálint, Hungary) which you can find in this Flickr album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nagysandor/albums/72157647552728759

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Comments (1)

Sorry, I cannot see the pictures that I have uploaded. I can only see a brown area. However the links in the Notes work, so you can see them in my Google album. More specifically, the links to the pictures are as follows: Male on grass: https://photos.app.goo.gl/FHia4ENvJLVxLy8G7 Male on my finger: https://photos.app.goo.gl/rT4UakNaZDHRo4E88

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