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Project Noah Nature School
Crabro sp.
Well this wasp definitely works out :) His front legs have an expanded tibiae like a shield that is half yellow and half black. The middle and hind legs are black on most of the femur but turn yellow that extends down to the tibia. The abdomen is black with broken, yellow stripes. The antennae are yellow at the base then go black. The there is a yellow stripe on the prothorax as well as the mesothorax. The video shows it walking around and briefly cleaning itself.
Pomelo tree in backyard. It was running around the leaf, avoiding the shaded areas. It then flew to an adjacent leaf and repeated the same process. It did stop to clean itself long enough for me to snap some photo's.
"He covers the female's eyes with those things during mating. The plates don't blind her, but apparently filter light in such a way that she recognizes this is a male of her own species." Comment by Eric Eaton.
Spotted on Feb 9, 2014
Submitted on Feb 10, 2014
3 Comments
mmm, very interesting!
Hi Juan, I agree. In my notes, I quoted our very own BugEric, "He covers the female's eyes with those things during mating. The plates don't blind her, but apparently filter light in such a way that she recognizes this is a male of her own species."
Very intriguing wasp. I am wondering what's the purpose of those structures in the front legs