neville parkFor all their reputation, I've never had a bad experience with bald-faced hornets (_Dolichovespula maculata_). When they are simply out getting food they seem pretty calm.
DevrieseBelgium, Wemmel : Ichneumon stramator ( Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) #belgium #wemmel #garden #insect #macrophotography #hymenoptera
joel b#Macrophotography #BallardLocks #Seattle #PWN #Insects #Spiders #Diptera #Hymenoptera #Photography #Nature
Albert CardonaBonus: a large desert ant, Cataglyphis nodus, slicing up a fallen locust, presumably to haul it back to their nest. These ants are cousins of the famous heat-tolerant Sahara desert ant, C. bicolor.
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/309812161
#iNaturalist #Hymenoptera #ants #entomology
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/309812161
#iNaturalist #Hymenoptera #ants #entomology
Willa 
We were looking at the wildflowers in front of the house today when I felt something crawling on my leg. I reached down to brush it off but stopped just in time when I saw it was this adorable little eastern bumblebee (๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด). The bee crawled down onto my sneaker and proceeded to groom itself, very chill, before eventually crawling down into the grass.
#BeeBuddy #bumblebee #bee #hymenoptera #insects #InsectThursday
Finally, on the trail, a fearsome, very large wasp, a Delta unguiculatum, busy stabbing and carrying a pillbug โ presumably to stash away as food for its young.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/309811924
And a rare one: a velvet ant, male, genus Dasylabris, also grooming โ thankfully, otherwise, I'd never be able to snap photos of these most gorgeous wasps.
Males are harmless; their mission in life is to find a female, which are wingless, pick it up and mate in a nuptial flight, and gently carry it to an auspicious location where it will find many a prey to catch and stash away, paralized, to feed their young in an underground burrow.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/309786828
Not far off, another formidable predator: a beewolf, Philanthus triangulum, grooming its wings:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/309786456
... and a spectacular wasp, genus Meria, stretching about its very slender forms on the very same fennel flowers:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/309786250
Lining the path there were many fennel plants in flower. Their little cute bright yellow cups are a favorite of many bees, wasps and flies. Here, a weevil wasp, Cerceris, sipping nectar:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/309785511
