The European hornet ( Vespa crabro ) is an impressive insect and Britain's largest social wasp. They have yellow and brownish-red striped bodies, reddish wings and a yellow head.
The eye of a Hornet, Vespa crabro . A few hornets regularly turn up in our moth trap each year. Much less aggressive than wasps, but nasty if you get stung.
The Digger wasp, Ectemnius cavifrons that catches hoverflies that it drags into a burrow where it lays an egg on the still living paralysed prey on which the larvae feeds when it hatches. Spot the three light-sensitive ocelli that form a triangle
Another shot of Ectemnius cavifrons. It nests in branching burrows in decaying wood that may contain up to 14 separate cells.
An unknown species of Digger wasp from Ecuador, preparing to seal up its mud nesting chamber.
Another species of Digger wasp from the Isle of Youth, Cuba. Nice green eyes on this species.
This Ichneumen is from the Braconidae family as the forewing vein, 2m-cu is absent (bet you needed to know that). That sting-like structure is the ovipositor that the female uses to insert her eggs into an unsuspecting caterpillar at night. The egg
The face of an unknown species of Ichneumen. The head is about 2 mm across.
There are about 2,500 species of hymenopteran Ichneumin "wasps" in Britain. They are notoriously difficult to identify, but I think this one is Ichneumon bucculentus . Most ichneumonids are parasitoids of other invertebrates – meaning their eggs ar
Yellow meadow ant ( Lasius flavus ) - Gloucestershire, UK. The head is about 0.5 mm across.
The faces of ants are remarkable. This is the Southern Wood ant, Formica rufa .
You might have seen the huge nests of the Southern Wood ant, Formica rufa, in pine woodlands. They can bite, so be careful! Thanks to my friend Dave Molesworth for sending me some fine specimens.
If you have ever had the leaves of your roses stripped of all their leaves, it was probably the larvae of the Rose sawfly, Arge pagana that was responsible. Here's what the adult looks like and you can just see the orange ovipositor that is adapte
We are lucky enough to have Ashy mining bees ( Andrena cineraria ) digging holes in the garden in the spring each year. They have become more common in recent years and they lay their eggs in burrows that look like miniature volcanoes.
A worker honey bee, Apis mellifera lives for only 15 to 35 days in the summer months, but overwintering workers can survive for up to 200 days.
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