3:00 snapshot #1353

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So close to #97

This gorgeous wasp was around the corner, in a neighbor's yard, a very short flight from ours. Alas, it's not a project without rules, and my rule is that the organism has to be in our yard or in our house. This is the great black wasp Sphex pensylvanicus, a close relative to the great golden digger wasp. The great black wasp provisions its larvae with paralyzed members of #96: bush katydids.

3:00 snapshot #1354: Albee pupdate

I thought I'd take the occasion of this unflattering snapshot of Alexis and Albee to update you on him: He's still cute.

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100 more species #97: Tiger bee fly

Tiger bee fly Xenox tigrinus

The bee flies, family Bombyliidae, are mostly flies that are furry and colorful and have come to look somewhat like bees. Recently there's been a spate of cute bee fly pics circulating the internet. The tiger bee fly, although related, is not cute and furry. It is huge and fearsome, resembling a horse fly or perhaps a large hornet, depending on what you are afraid of. It is entirely harmless to humans, so don't be alarmed. Unless you happen to be a carpenter bee, that is. You see, the tiger bee fly shares one important thing with it's cute fuzzy relatives: parasitoid larvae. The fly seeks out a carpenter bee nest and lays eggs on the bee larvae inside. The first instar of the fly larva is an active mobile maggot which burrows its way into the host; once inside, the fly larva metamorphoses into a sessile parasite which feeds on the developing carpenter bee, eventually killing it. Instead of a bee, a bee fly emerges from the nest.