Subject: Wasps, Sawflies? In Germany
Location: Hessen Germany
November 11, 2012 5:53 am
Hi,
Love your site. It is what helped me figure out, a couple years ago, not to be so afraid of the House Centipede (which I’d never even heard of previously) who decided my bed was part of his/her daily path. We came to an understanding… I looked at pictures over and over on the net to get over my fear and s/he stopped visiting my bed after I tried to capture her (that was my ultimate goal in the attempt anyway; relocation).
Since then the site also helped me become even more interested in other insects, as I was already quite fascinated by spiders once I saw one eat her web she had strewn across a pathway I blundered into.
And so it is that I recently took pictures of what I think are some in the wasp/sawfly family in Germany, specifically the Hessen area in September/October.
The first one was moving so fast flying, landing, walking, repeat; apparently agitated at being stuck inside a tower but not knowing how to get out. There were several of these kind but I was in a bit of a hurry too with people, who don’t understand my interest in things so small, waiting for me.
The second was while on a walk. He (I believe) was on a rock with several ladybugs (which I will send a couple pics in of later though I believe they were all Asian — thank you for helping me identify those) on a path that was once an old Roman road (and apparently still goes to Warsaw, Poland). The path was surrounded by farm fields, some apparently organic while others seemed to be growing GMO corn and canola/rapeseed for biogas (there is so much of that in Germany). I think he may be of the xyelid family? I also have more pictures of this one.
The 3rd was already passed on, stuck in a spider’s web in town. I originally took the picture for the aesthetic reasons but after seeing the other two above and going through your wasp files I am now very curious about this one as well.
More to come soon of others (for some reason bugs in Germany have been finding me, nearly committing suicide even in the attempts :D).
Thank you for all you do (for us humans and the little ones we fail so often to understand)! 🙂
Signature: Curious Girl
Dear Curious Girl,
Thanks for your wonderful letter. We are not certain of the identity of your two wasps, but we are fairly confident that they are not Sawflies. They both look like solitary hunters and Sawflies do not prey upon other arthropods. We will continue to try to find out the species identities. Your third photo doesn’t have much detail, but the creature caught in the spider web looks like a flying ant.
Ed. Note: November 16, 2013
These are most likely Ichneumon Wasps.