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Ropalidia sp. Family Vespidae
A wasp seen with a droplet on the mouth. On further researching it was found that insects that feed on juices or insect blood, such as flies and wasps, will dangle such a droplet to evaporate as much excess water as possible, for easier flying and less wasteful digestion. In contrast the Homoptera produce honeydew to get rid of waste water and sugars from the watery sap they suck. They have a special device in the gut called the filter chamber, that permits the unwanted fraction to bypass the stomach.
Seen at a farm house near a river.
Text has been copied from Jon Richfield's comment on a post in the facebook entomology group.
Spotted on Mar 13, 2016
Submitted on Apr 3, 2016
2 Comments
Thank you!
Cool spotting!