Sandwasp with Prey Item

Sand Wasp (Ammophila sabulosa) with prey item Beautiful Yellow Underwing (Anarta myrtilli) Larvea

Wonderful series Lester. I assume the wasp cant fly with such a load?
Brian V.

Fantastic documentation! That caterpillar is going to be live food to be eaten inside out

LordV wrote in post #18535327
Wonderful series Lester. I assume the wasp cant fly with such a load?
Brian V.

I thought they could sometimes but I am not sure.
Congratulations on getting the photos.

Lester,
Nice. I too enjoy seeing the behavioral shots. The last one is my favorite.

Many thanks all for looking and commenting.

LordV wrote in post #18535327
Wonderful series Lester. I assume the wasp cant fly with such a load?
Brian V.

This one was flying a bit with the prey item but mostly dragging, other cases I have seen only dragged. All times either way it is quite exhausting for the wasp which has to take breaks.

hayath wrote in post #18536079
Fantastic documentation! That caterpillar is going to be live food to be eaten inside out

davholla wrote in post #18536099
I thought they could sometimes but I am not sure.
Congratulations on getting the photos.

stevendillonphoto wrote in post #18537828
Lester,
Nice. I too enjoy seeing the behavioral shots. The last one is my favorite.

Good action set; never seen one of these in action but do know a Beewolf colony in Wimbledon.

racketman wrote in post #18538792
Good action set; never seen one of these in action but do know a Beewolf colony in Wimbledon.

Thanks Toby, I have caught this behaviour twice now in different places, not yet seen a Beewolf subduing a honeybee though so if you can get that I would love to see.

The beewolf colony at Thursley is sadly diminished. Partly down to erosion of the nesting areas due to bike traffic on footpaths it seems.

Great captures, but I think I would have preferred the larva to the wasp - Beautiful Yellow Underwing is missing from my collection of moth shots! Where did you take this series, please, Lester, and what time of year? Maybe I could find a larva and rear it to imago...

Lester Wareham wrote in post #18542185
Thanks Toby, I have caught this behaviour twice now in different places, not yet seen a Beewolf subduing a honeybee though so if you can get that I would love to see.

The beewolf colony at Thursley is sadly diminished. Partly down to erosion of the nesting areas due to bike traffic on footpaths it seems.

Are you sure that caused the problem? I was told that a solitary wasp colony (Astata boops) in Bookham liked the mountain bike areas as they were hard packed and a good nest area.
(Not from Bookham but the same species)

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/KZhD​nD

Trik wrote in post #18542200
Great captures, but I think I would have preferred the larva to the wasp - Beautiful Yellow Underwing is missing from my collection of moth shots! Where did you take this series, please, Lester, and what time of year? Maybe I could find a larva and rear it to imago...

Thursley NNR in Septemember. I think there is a spring brood of the BYU also. You have a chance anywhere where there is heather I think.

davholla wrote in post #18542253
Are you sure that caused the problem? I was told that a solitary wasp colony (Astata boops) in Bookham liked the mountain bike areas as they were hard packed and a good nest area.
(Not from Bookham but the same species)

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/KZhD​nD IMG_8276wasp by davholla2002, on Flickr

I am basing it on the sand banks by the path over Shrike Hill being erroded, it seems coincide with the increase of bikes over the reserve.

Thanks Lester. I'll check about a Spring brood, but Autumn might be easier for me, as I have a couple of moth-breeding projects that should be started up in Spring, and I wouldn't want too many on the go as larvae can be such a pain sometimes!

Lester Wareham wrote in post #18544959
I am basing it on the sand banks by the path over Shrike Hill being erroded, it seems coincide with the increase of bikes over the reserve.

That makes sense, that the bikes damage the sand and reduce the number of wasps. (I didn't know you were talking about a sandy place). Bookham common is not sand and so the effect is different and ironically beneficial.