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Project Noah Nature School
Family: Chrysididae
After days of waiting for this beautiful little wasp to keep still I got a single shot. About 6mm long. Busy searching for holes in which it might parasitise other nestlings.
Exploring timber in an outer suburban back yard.
Chrysididae - possibly Chrysis sp.? Yet to search... http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/Cuc... http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_... also maybe check Mutillidae (velvet ant males have wings) http://www.flickr.com/photos/malcolm_nq/...
Spotted on Dec 19, 2013
Submitted on Dec 19, 2013
10 Comments
These are so beautiful and so hard to photograph. Great you got it! Good advice John, I'll start carrying a tiny vial of honey with a pin in it! :)
Nicely done Mark.
I saw my first ever cuckoo wasp at Lysterfield last week It flashed me for about two seconds.
Ha. No way too late for that.
Is it a mid-life Chrysis? :)
Great advice thanks John. :-)
try putting a drop (and I mean a little tiny drop) of honey near where it is walking around. Sometimes they will stop and eat it - for long enough to take a shot.You can't smear the honey or put too much because they will get stuck in it. Put it on with a pin or needle, and keep it about half or a third the size of the head.
Thanks John. Still hoping to get better shots of these.
I love the colour of these little fellows.
yep
Definitely a cuckoo wasp - Chrysididae