Ichenumon wasp
I haven’t posted an insect closeup in quite a while. Not that the spring flowers are mostly past, trees have leafed out, and the grasses are high, it’s insect season. This is a male ichneumon wasp:
The male is a pretty interesting insect, but the females are really unusual. Some female ichneumons have huge tails – ovipositors, not stingers – that they use to lay eggs. I was lucky to find a female on a tree a few years back. It’s one of the images on this blog that get the most page views. I wish people would go to the flower gallery I posted last week instead!
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Extraordinary creature and what a view!
The wings are like stained glass, like Tiffany.
And I searched for ‘flower gallery’ and couldn’t find exactly that,
but all the photographs are beautiful, such clarity in the color
and the reflected light inside the petals.
Thanks! The flower gallery is my last post, “A bunch of flowers.” Insect wings are beautiful – I may try closeups of dragonfly wings again this season.
This is a great image, Tom. One of the nice things about macro photography is the opportunity to show others the beauty of the insect world where most people just think they are less than attractive. 🙂
looks like it is gonna come out of the screen 🙂