Posts Tagged: European paper wasp
Do You Know Where Your Pollinators Are?
It's National Pollinator Week. Do you know where your pollinators are? If you're thinking bees, butterflies, beetles, birds (hummingbirds) and bats,...
European paper wasps protecting the nest they're building on the lip of a recycling bin near the Mann lab, UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
European paper wasp chowing down on food on the lip of a recycling bin near the Mann lab, UC Davis campus. Another wasp delivered it to the guard. Maybe it's the remains of a caterpillar? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Meet Some Crafty Insects at Bohart Museum of Entomology
Talk about "crafty"--as in cunning or sneaky--insects. Ever seen a praying mantis ambushing a cabbage white butterfly? Or an assassin bug targeting...
A praying mantis dining on a cabbage white butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An assassin bug targeting prey: a spotted cucumber beetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
European paper wasps attacking a newly eclosed Gulf Fritillary butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
These "crafty" European paper wasps are making their nest. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A feral honey bee colony is a work of art. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Getting Steak and Dessert at the Same Time
Monarch butterflies aren't the only insects that hang around milkweed, their host plant. You're likely to see a variety of predators, such as the...
A European paper wasp catching prey on a showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A European wasp feeding on prey on a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Eye to eye, and nose to antennae with a European paper wasp. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of European paper wasp. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Yellowjacket or Paper Wasp?
Western yellowjackets, nicknamed "meat bees" (as opposed to the "vegetarian honey bees") are often misidentified. A recent visitor at a camp in...
A Western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, sipping water. Note the black antennae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A European paper wasp, Polistes dominula, soaking up sun. Note the orange antennae.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is a European paper wasp nest tucked inside a shrub. Yellowjacket nests are often in abandoned rodent nests. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
And Along Came a Wasp...
So here's this cute little reddish/orangish caterpillar munching away on a passionflower vine. It's Sunday and he's having Sunday dinner--after...
A European paper wasp, Polistes dominula, attacks a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The non-battle is over within seconds,as the wasp shreds the caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Trapeze style, the predator devours its prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The European paper wasp finishes off the rest of the caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)