Not caterpillars. Wasps!

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

Beatsy
Posts: 2105
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:10 am
Location: Malvern, UK

Not caterpillars. Wasps!

Post by Beatsy »

Parasitic ones. That *was* a surprise. I've been waiting a week for these eggs to hatch and wondered why a little "fly" was hanging around after the first couple hatched (unseen). Now I know.

One got in the freezer, somehow. Oh well, I can think of a use for that in a day or two :D

Handheld, 30-image focus stack with Minolta DImage lens @ 2.5x. Lit by a single strobe shining on a diffuser over the subject.
2021-06-16-22.42.03 ZS retouched_1-.jpg

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
Posts: 23561
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
Contact:

Re: Not caterpillars. Wasps!

Post by rjlittlefield »

Nice find, nice image!

Judging from the circular "hatches" surrounded by rings of small pegs, I'm guessing the normal hatchlings would have been hemiptera nymphs, not caterpillars.

--Rik

Beatsy
Posts: 2105
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:10 am
Location: Malvern, UK

Re: Not caterpillars. Wasps!

Post by Beatsy »

Thanks Rik, I think you're right. I get heaps of those around the garden. Here's another processed from yesterdays snap-fest. Short, 7-image stack. Same lens etc as above.
Emerging_1-.jpg

MarkSturtevant
Posts: 1946
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2015 6:52 pm
Location: Michigan, U.S.A.
Contact:

Re: Not caterpillars. Wasps!

Post by MarkSturtevant »

Beautifully done!
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

Beatsy
Posts: 2105
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:10 am
Location: Malvern, UK

Re: Not caterpillars. Wasps!

Post by Beatsy »

Here's the wasp that fell into the freezer.

I mounted this on a bent pin with bevel-adhesive, a UV-cured resin. Unfortunately, my UV torch battery had run out and I didn't notice (eyes closed) and shone nothing at the mount for 20 seconds. When I lifted the mount, it flopped upside down hanging from the still-wet resin. I zapped it with another UV torched to harden it before the wasp got sucked into a nearby blob. Sadly, it was mounted permanently upside down and the pin can't be re-bent or it might break. So it was shot and stacked upside down too and only flipped for export.

The wasp's body is just under 3mm long - nose to stinger.
pw-pmn.jpg
pws-pmn.jpg

virginuso
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2021 5:16 am
Location: USA

Re: Not caterpillars. Wasps!

Post by virginuso »

It looks beautiful. Insects are a magnificent and mysterious extraordinary world. If I had such photos, I would make collages on canvas prints. In addition to getting hypnotic beauty, you can also earn a lot of money if you sell them. In addition, the insect world is so diverse, and you can alternate with other insects. Butterflies, ants, spiders are the material for modern works of art. I am the one who will be the first to come to an exhibition of this kind of art. I even thought about the idea of immortalizing insects and plants on canvas with the help of special transparent resins.

Beatsy
Posts: 2105
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:10 am
Location: Malvern, UK

Re: Not caterpillars. Wasps!

Post by Beatsy »

Yes, insects are indeed fascinating - as is everything tiny to the denizens of this place! :D

It's how these little machines, with only a few hundred neurons for a brain, can even *function*, let alone get around autonomously, that fascinates me. Mind boggling when you think about it, even superficially.

Thanks for your comment and welcome to the forum.

Cheers

NikonUser
Posts: 2693
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Re: Not caterpillars. Wasps!

Post by NikonUser »

UV-cured resin was mentioned.
A very useful permanent-mounting resin, available in Canada, is "Bondic". Comes in an applicator with a 'nozzel' about the diam. of a small hypodermic.
I use it, works well! Not cheap but one uses so little.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

Beatsy
Posts: 2105
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:10 am
Location: Malvern, UK

Re: Not caterpillars. Wasps!

Post by Beatsy »

That's interesting. Presumably the insects have to be properly dried (at least). Is there any other prep?

And of course, insects have been preserved and presented for display in pine resin for nearly two centuries already. As microscope slide mounts using Canada balsam.

Not forgetting the naturally resin-preserved insects of course - up to 100 million years in amber. Not much new under the sun, eh? :D

Scarodactyl
Posts: 1617
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:26 am

Re: Not caterpillars. Wasps!

Post by Scarodactyl »

Virginuso is a spambot :(

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
Posts: 23561
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
Contact:

Re: Not caterpillars. Wasps!

Post by rjlittlefield »

Scarodactyl wrote:
Mon Jun 28, 2021 8:18 am
Virginuso is a spambot :(
Banned. Thanks for the heads-up.

--Rik

zook
Posts: 118
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2018 3:08 pm
Location: zemun/serbia/milky way

Re: Not caterpillars. Wasps!

Post by zook »

Nice, I've seen similar eggs many times, I'll have to pay more attention to it.

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic