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Project Noah Nature School
Megascolia maculata flavifrons (female)
The female is larger than the male. The female's head is yellow or orange, whereas the male's head is black or dark coloured. Mammoth wasps are parasitic of the European rhinoceros beetle larva, since the female mammoth wasp stings the larva to paralyze it, and then lays one egg in its outer skin. The egg will then hatch and the mammoth wasp larva will feed on its host, until it is able to build a cocoon and develop into an adult mammoth wasp. It will stay in the cocoon over winter, and will emerge only in spring.
Spotted on Apr 30, 2012
Submitted on Jun 12, 2012
