Just popped out for a minute :)

Not sure if this is an inside job or not . Aphids on a Virginia creeper stem-
Brian V.

Hiya Brian,
That's a great shot, amazing how neat those hatch holes are, they sorta remind me of Octopus catching jars.
Hope your not suffering to much in this heat
Cheers for now
Mark

That is so bizarre!!!

Pop a couple of ladybirds onto that creeper quick or it'll be toast!

Amazing picture Brian, I'm half expecting a gunner to pop his head out of one of the hatches to get some directions.

nice capture - what is going on here ?

LordV wrote:
Not sure if this is an inside job or not . Aphids on a Virginia creeper stem

What a lovely pile of mummies! I've never seen so many in a bunch. Your ants must have been asleep on the job It looks like you may still have time to catch a few adults if you want to find out what they are.

For those wondering, these are aphid 'mummies' - parasitized aphids. There are several families of tiny wasps and flies that lay their eggs inside the aphid, then the larvae eats the insides (stretching out the skin as it writhes around), pupates inside, and eventually hatches out. You can often find a few scattered in large groups of live aphids.

A few years ago I had the luck to find one with the larvae nearly full grown but still active, and before the aphid skin turned opaque. It was very cool, but weird--you could just see a murky snakelike thing that looked like it was tying itself in knots as it ate up the last bits. I hatched it inside, and I think it might have been a braconid wasp, but it was so small (about 3mm, and skinny) that it got through the three-layer cheese cloth cover before I got a really good look at it. [Note to self: little bugs don't need that much oxygen, use solid lids...]

Excellent capture Brian, I will have to keep a look-out for these. First time I've seen this kind of shot.

totally awseome, is that young leaving an adults body,or adults leaving a skin behind or something else?

Great capture I've never seen anything cut open like that. This is so weird! I wonder what did that.

That's one weird pict Excellent shot! I'm glad you share this Brian

Thanks for the comments all
As many of you realised, these are the exit holes left by a parasitic wasp. For a conclusion to the story see https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=193575
Brian V.

Fantastic shot. Amazing how many were carrying unwelcome guests.

Thanks Lester
Wondered why the aphid outbreaks I get all seem to disappear after a couple of weeks. I thought it was the hovers and ladybirds but these gals are also helping out bigtime.
Brian V

Lovely series (including the other one) - i see you can buy these types of Wasps online for purposes similar to this ...