I think the first wasp I saw last year was in around August. This isolated example today was a big surprise.

Shadows of Contemplation.
#InsektenSamstag #insect #Hymenoptera #wasp #Ichneumonidae #Manitoba

#Trump’s #SecretPolice Are Stalking More and More Students

We are at that point when one can consider that travelling to the #USA if you're not #WASP and wealthy, is highly dangerous. And also remaining in the US if you are only on #visa or #greencard also puts you at high risk of being simply disappeared on a pure whim, by zealote officers of a heavily #racist, #xenophobic and #authoritarian #dictatorship . The USA are not a #democracy anymore. You can't trust it.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/trump-ice-secret-police-student-abduction/

My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...

The 2022 Korean translation of Locked in Time (by Dr Dean Lomax & published by Columbia University Press) commissioned me to colourise my 50 greyscale illustrations. Here's "Condemning the host," showing a prehistoric wasp (Xenomorphia) injecting an egg into a fly pupa.

#Hummingbird chick acts like a #caterpillar to survive
https://phys.org/news/2025-03-hummingbird-chick-caterpillar-survive.html

"Unlike most #hummingbirds, the jacobin chick was covered in long brown feathers... they saw a predatory #wasp approach the chick when the mother was away. As the wasp hovered above the nest, the chick started to twitch its body vigorously, swinging its head from side to side. A few seconds later, the wasp flew away... many #caterpillars in this region have similar-looking brown hairs that can give painful stings"

Yesterday I saw my 2nd "common" ectemnius, on a roadside near Lincoln, #NZ. This wasp is from Europe, Asia, & North America. It was first found in the southern hemisphere in Feb 2020 in Christchurch by Hannah Nolan, for her undergrad entomology collection at #LincolnUniversityNZ. It triggered a biosecurity response, and she passed the course.

There have now been 30 observations, all in and around Christchurch, as it slowly expands.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/266870319

Given the Orange Felon’s push to erase everyone who isn’t a white male from history, let’s post links to original history sources here and keep the knowledge alive.

The Womens Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) museum at Avenger Field, TX
https://www.waspmuseum.org

The story to get the WASP officially recognized as veterans for their service in WWII
https://erinmiller0.wixsite.com/ffffbooklanding/about

Torymid wasps are just awesome.
#wasp #hymenoptera #insect #Torymidae

A Sceliphron mud dauber wasp carries a glob of mud back to her mud nest, the weight of her load counterbalanced by her unusual petiolate abdomen. Texas. #sceliphron #sphecidae #wasp #insects #flight

White-banded Potter Wasp (Ancistrocerus albophaleratus).

Manitoba, Canada.
#WaspWednesday #wasp #insect #hymenoptera #Manitoba

#News land of the free if you are a #wasp
https://apnews.com/article/citing-slavery-court-precedents-michigan-state-law-2758da4162b37c82c2052834cbb7088a

In which I wax poetic (or at least wax) about parenting and the fabulous American Pelecinid Wasp for #WaspWednesday.
#wasp #insects #hymenoptera

https://acorns.fyi/weird-wasp-wednesday/

VIDEO. Hi han dies que val més quedar-se al llit. Aquesta femella de Podalonia tydei va intentar repetidament trobar un punt adient per excavar un niu. Va treure rocs i munts de sorra. Malgrat tot, va seguir excavant en altres punts, però el que no esperava era trobar una formiga emprenyada que li mossegués una pota (25").

W.A.S.P. (Estats Units) presenta nou recopilatori: "Bonus Tracks And B Sides" #WASP #HeavyMetal #HardRock #Febrer2025 #EstatsUnits #NouRecopilatori #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

This one is called red velvet #ant - but it's actually female of #wasp species. Males have wings, dark gray, photos I saw had cool "fallen angel" vibes

A long-legged Ichneumonid wasp with multi-colored stockings for #WaspWednesday

Manitoba, Canada.
#wasp #insect #Manitoba #Hymenoptera #Ichneumonidae #bugstodon