26 Jun 2022

Sand wasp with Planthopper prey

by | posted in: Arthropod, Feeding strategy, sand wasp | 0

A Sand Wasp, genus Bembecinus, spotted at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve on 12 June 2022. It has caught a Ricaniid Planthopper and was in the process of moving it to a burrow. Catching such interactions is always the fascinating part of nature photography.

Photo 1: A Bembicini sand wasp dragging a plant hopper prey to its sand burrow. The prey is paralysed and stays alive to form living food for the wasp’s developing larva.
Photo 2: The sand wasp gets into the burrow to widen the mouth of its burrow. This sand wasp has the common yellow and black colour markings.
Photo 3: The sand wasp lowers its abdomen into the burrow to clear the chamber at the bottom.
Photo 4: The plant hopper prey is lowered into the burrow to form the stash of food for the sand wasp’s larva to feed on.

 

Read this post https://besgroup.org/2012/05/04/a-common-sandpiper-coming-face-to-face-with-a-wasp-2/  of a sandpiper feeding on a wasp.

Observations and all photographs © Soh Kam Yung.

 

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