Mastodawn

For #insectSaturday / #insektenSamstag - I saw an interesting bee buzzing around the top of a low wall - I willed it to land, so I could take some photos.

...

It landed, and got grabbed by a spider. Oh no. Fortunately (for the bee) it escaped.

Bee: Coelioxys sp. - a cuckoo bee, aiming to lay eggs in the nest of solitary Megachile bees? Probably not so fortunate an escape for those other bees.

#Derbyshire #insects #bees #spiders #macrophotography

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Coprolite9000 - Pixelfed 2d ago

Also: I saw a Gasteruption sp. wasp buzzing around next to the front door. Amazing thing - and despite having a suitably massive camera with macro lens immediately to hand, it promptly disappeared again...

https://www.naturespot.org/species/gasteruption-agg

Gasteruption | NatureSpot

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ax6761 2d ago

@coprolite9000 The long "spike" behind in most the images, is that ovipositor?

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Coprolite9000 - Pixelfed 1d ago

Yep, used to probe inside nests of hosts. Incredibly long!

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𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝙹𝚎𝚜𝚜 2d ago

Beyond cool!

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Coprolite9000 - Pixelfed 1d ago

It's an amazing, miniature safari whenever I go out with my camera. And this was just outside the front door...

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𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝙹𝚎𝚜𝚜 1d ago

I feel like I don't have the eye (or maybe patience?) for this. I'm in awe.

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Anthony 2d ago

That’s spider was lucky that it wasn’t a wasp

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Coprolite9000 - Pixelfed 1d ago

I've seen lots of small pompilid wasps hunting for crab spiders - including one dragging its (much larger) paralysed prey across the wall and into the crevice. I wasn't expecting *that*!