The "Mop Wasp"

  Early this afternoon, I needed to empty remnants of the fig-preserving process into the compost pile.  The heap is out the back door and down behind the shed.  All went well as I hiked out to do the chore but coming back inside gave me a reason to pause.   Hanging off the edge of the back porch is an old mop that is used to slosh water around on the porch floor when a good cleaning is needed.  The mop hangs there doing nothing most of the time as it is not my "inside" mop.  This is one of the good, old-fashioned style mops with the stringed head.  The mop, itself, was not particularly interesting but, for some odd reason, a wasp was eating it.  THAT was interesting!  Why was a wasp pulling strings off of the mop?

  I got to looking at that wasp and had to admit that I did not recognize it at all.  It bore a great similarity to several of the wasps that call the place home but it was not identical to any of them.  I did know one thing!  It was one of those, more or less, harmless ones so I knew I could watch without any cause for alarm.  I eased back inside the house and got the camera.  As with all things around here, I HAD to photograph it!  Critters are getting pretty used to my camera being shoved in their faces!  This wasp was oblivious to my efforts to get the perfect shot.  If I can get a clear picture, it helps tremendously in identifying the critter.

  To be honest, my photos turned out rather well but none were a perfect match to any of those on the wasp ID charts.  The wasp highly resembled the mud daubers but, then again, it did not.  It was smaller and had less yellow.  The legs of this wasp were more of a reddish tone.  My friend was also a lot like a thread-waisted wasp but still not a perfect match.  So, I kept digging until I came upon a blog about grass-carrying wasps.  Ok, so I have to admit that I have never heard of this ilk.  Reading further, it sure seemed to match my critter but I was still not certain.

  One thing is for sure, the "whatever" wasp was mighty interested in that old mop.  For the rest of the afternoon, the critter made numerous attacks on the mop, gnawed/tugged off a bit of string and flew to parts unknown with its treasure. Me?  I am just as bewildered as I was earlier.  I guess a grass-carrying wasp can take a liking to a mop string if it wishes.  Personally, it matters not to me if it takes the entire mop.  Maybe, I have a new critter called a "Mop Wasp"!

Busy Little Lady!

  Mark and Son were out back working on the big tractor this morning. Getting the tractor going was important as it was needed to move the boat.  The boat needed moving to get to my truck!  Why?  My truck has been broken for the past four years and, well, now seemed to be the time to get it fixed.  Why?  My truck needed to be fixed so Mark could have something to drive while he truck is broken!  Yep, it seems as if most of the vehicles on the hill are unusable at the moment.  So, the guys charged the battery and worked on the tractor for a bit before getting to all the other fun things.  About an hour after they started, I thought it would be a good idea to tote some water out for them.  The heat is almost intolerable if you have to be out in it for any length of time.  This whole bit of good-deed-doing on my part led to a good half hour of wasp-watching for me!

  The tractor sat back behind the citrus trees so I had a bit of a trek to deliver the water.  This was not an easy task because I did not have the foresight to put on shoes.  I was ok on the grass but once I got near the blackberry patch, I had to do some careful tiptoeing!  It was when I turned to go back to the house that I saw my friend!  A lovely Steel-blue Cricket Hunter was busily hunting for prey.  This thread-waisted wasp is one of the prettiest of all wasps and is perhaps my favorite!  I adore the way the sun glints off of its blue body.  She (yes, this was a female) scurried about the ground searching under the leaves for any prey, preferably a cricket.  This she would tote far down into a tunnel that she had dug earlier.  

  It did not take long before the Lovely Lady had her cricket.  She made her way into the tunnel to deposit this one and was immediately back on the hunt again. Her goal is to gather between five and ten crickets to place in each corridor of her tunnel.  Once she lines the corridor with paralyzed insects, she lays a single egg in one and blocks the "door" to the corridor.  She then starts the process again filling another corridor. Within a day or so, the egg hatches and the larva feasts on the crickets that Mama left for its pleasure.  As the larva eats, it develops into an identical version of its parents.  When the transformation is complete, it digs its way out of the tunnel and the hunt begins again. 

  The Cricket Hunter, like all thread-waisted wasps are compulsive hunters and help to rid the garden of not only crickets but all sorts of damaging insects.  They will attack and carry off a lot of the caterpillars that munch my vegetables.  They, in turn, pollinate the plants for me! These are excellent critters to have about the garden and I was extremely happy to see this one in the area.

Pleasant surprise!

This evening reestablished my confidence in the younger generation. It is almost impossible to be with any group of people without someone bemoaning the fact that the "younger generation is going down the road to ruin." Many, many years ago, I am quite sure that folks were saying the same thing about my generation and I suppose now it is our turn to be disgusted with the morals of the next group of young people. Personally, I have always been quite impressed with the young people that I have had the honor of knowing. On a whole, they are a good bunch and a lot of fun. Tonight, however, would have made anyone think better of this group. As I sat fishing on the pier (and not catching anything edible, I might add), two fishermen gently glided their boat alongside of me. I recognized them as friends of my son..two of the many that spent days on end at our place when they were young teens. After visiting for a few minutes, one of them asked if I had caught any fish. "No, not a one." I told them. Reaching into their cooler, one of the young men grabbed a nice size Red Drum fish and tossed it up on the pier. I thought this was the nicest gesture. These two sweet guys, Taylor and Brandon, had just provided me with dinner! What a beautiful fish it was! It measured twenty-two inches! I am impressed with the kindness they had shown..it does the heart good to know such fine young people!

This morning while taking a few minutes break from terracing another part of our yard, my son noticed a bee crawling on the ground. We sat watching this bee as it made a run straight for a patch of sand near our feet. Then like greased lightning it started digging a hole. Sand was practically flying as it dug. Suddenly it turned and headed back in the direction it had come. Keep in mind that this bee was crawling not flying. We watched until it was out of sight. Careful not to damage the hole, we observed its handiwork. The hole was quite deep and the entrance was about the size of a nickel. While we were standing there staring at a hole in the ground, the bee returned. This time it was dragging a very large locust (about three inches long)! Before I could get the camera focused on the pair, the bee slipped the locust into the hole and out of sight. How

it knew that the locust was going to fit with such ease was beyond me, but the bug just slipped right in without even scraping the tunnel. The bee then proceeded to partially cover the hole. It did not completely fill it and then (this time) flew off to find another prey. After a bit of research, I have decided our bee is a Thread-waisted Wasp (Ammophila Nigricans). This wasp is known as a digger wasp..huh..who would have guessed??..since they did burrows as a nest. The locust was a food supply for a larvae that would hatch from an egg that was laid before the hole was completely covered. Smart bee, providing for its young before it has even hatched!