<< Previous Next >>

Digger Wasp


Digger Wasp
Photo Information
Copyright: Hollie is an SLR novice (slrnovice2) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 331 W: 31 N: 344] (1197)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2005-06-26
Categories: Insects
Camera: Canon 20D, Canon 100mm Macro
Exposure: f/16, 1/250 seconds
Details: (Fill) Flash: Yes
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Date Submitted: 2005-06-28 16:43
Viewed: 5377
Points: 24
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
This was a surprise. There I was quietly doing a spot of weeding and I noticed a movement. At first I thought it was an ordinary wasp but it disappeared down a hole between the patio stones. The mortar was old and quite sandy and very nice for a Digger Wasp to set up home. I thought I'd wait for it to come out again and try to catch a photo so I rushed for the camera and settled down to wait. It appeared, I grabbed a shot and waited some more just to see...and then the most amazing drama unfolded right before my eyes. There was a blur of movement then I saw what looked like two wasps on the patio stones. Were they mating or fighting? Closer inspection revealed they were not both wasps, one was a bee or bee lookalike and they were definitely not on friendly terms. As I watched with some degree of fascination, the digger wasp grabbed hold of the bee, dragged it over to its hole, popped down, came out again and pulled the stunned bee in after it.

Actually, of course, it wasn't stunned, it was paralysed. I can't believe I watched this, I hate things that paralyse other creatures for their babies to eat - ick! Still, I didn't know exactly what I was watching at the time so I forgive me ;). This must be a female as I think its the females that build the nests and go catch prey for the babies to eat. So far I've counted five digger wasp holes on that bit of patio and there may be more. I've been looking for information on the species. Given that the prey species appeared to be a bee and given that Digger Wasps are quite particuar about what prey species they go after, I thought it might be a Bee Wolf and found some information on them at http://www.earthlife.net/insects/solwasps.html. This Digger Wasp turned out not be a Bee Wolf, the colouring on the back (I have more images) is three yellow stripes widely spaced apart. I don't yet know what species it is, any advice is welcome.

I'm afraid my image isn't very good and workshops are also welcome. I was using fill flash for two reasons: a) I thought the wasp might be fast moving and b) I thought it would appear underexposed against the bright paving stones. I think I covered both those problems but ran up against another one - nasty reflections. I even used a flash diffuser (not Pauls I hasten to add - I've been experimenting) but it didn't work terribly well as you can see.

PP included rotating a little, crop, shadow/highlight on the bee, levels and sharpening for the web. Nothing I could do could get rid of the pesky reflections :(

What is fascinating for me is having images of the whole sequence of this drama - the fight, the dragging to the hole, the stuffing down the hole, the peeping cautiously back out again and a shot of the full body with wings open which will help hopefully help me ID it eventually.
pgmoni, gerhardt, sAner, PDP, AndyB, Comandante, sandpiper2, Luc, marhowie has marked this note useful
Only registered TrekNature members may rate photo notes.
Add Critique [Critiquing Guidelines] 
Only registered TrekNature members may write critiques.
Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To pgmoni: Thanks :)slrnovice2 2 06-29 06:59
To PDP: Sphecidaepgmoni 4 06-29 06:49
To PDP: Thanks :)slrnovice2 1 06-29 02:15
You must be logged in to start a discussion.

Critiques [Translate]

Nice shot Hollie.A bit like the mason wasp we get here in NZ.They're a bit of a nuisance if they get into a CD player and make a nest.

Hollie, you are to hard on yourself. I think this is very well done. Flash and these shiny wings will always have reflections. I think only special macro flashes gets rid of all the reflections. Its sharp and interesting. Great work.

  • Great 
  • sAner Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1488 W: 72 N: 1428] (4748)
  • [2005-06-28 17:35]

Hi Hollie! Excellent macro. Good details, nice colors and well composed. You captured a great moment!! Well done & TFS!

Regards,
Pieter

  • Great 
  • AndyB Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1389 W: 32 N: 1350] (3982)
  • [2005-06-28 18:10]

Hello Hollie,
A great capture you've got,I've never seen it before.
Excellent composition and good clear,sharp detail.
Very well done.

TFS

Very nice capture and a great observation! It is a Cerceris rybyensis, I think. I saw one capturing a small bee only yesterday, but could not make a decent picture!
Still on second thought, I have posted a poor quality one as a WS.

Excellent job!
Philippe

  • Great 
  • PDP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor [C: 2821 W: 344 N: 3779] (11769)
  • [2005-06-29 4:47]
  • [+]

Great shot Hollie, the reflections aren't too bad. What diffuser did you use? I'm always interested in experimentation :-)

Your digger wasp is of the family Sphecidae, further ID is pretty tough...there are many that are superficially alike.

Well done on this it looks like it has caught a bee, their favoured prey depending on species are hoverflies, flies, weevils and spiders! I got a few shots of these last year and I tried for hours to get one with prey so I'm very impressed. Great capture.

Hello Hollie!
Very nice capture.Clear details,framing and composition are wonderful.Thanks for sharing.

Great action shot and a most excellent note. It is terrible what they do, but that's nature I guess. Humans do some prety nasty things too.
I think the shot is quite good, though like you I had to look at it for a while to figure out what was going on. You've done well here, I enjoyed it.

I dont Know Hollie , I would be pretty pleased to have got this on in the can, detail are well seen there are no exesive overexposed areas, only the normal reflections off the wings.
it seems to work for me, TFS

Great shot Hollie,
The exposure is superb. Excellent details, colours, sharpness and composition.
DOF is spot on. Excellent capture.
Thanks for posting

  • Great 
  • Luc Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1872 W: 304 N: 4301] (14733)
  • [2005-08-02 16:42]

A very very interesting note and a good photo, Hollie. I like very much these long stories which learn us on the behavior of the subjects.
Thank you for sharing photo, note and time.

Excellent shot Hollie,
Very good DOF, sharpness, detail, color and exposure. You have composed it nicely as well.
Isn't it something to watch..when you spend enough time trying to get these shots, the drama inevitably comes your way..It can be a truly amazing thing to see unfold!
I've seen many things first hand, that I would never have seen otherwise, except for the glass in my hand :)
Very nicely done..and Thank you!

Calibration Check
















0123456789ABCDEF