Thursday, September 15, 2011

Great Golden Digger Wasp

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On Nov. of 2010 I did a post on the Great Golden Digger Wasp.

http://wildlifearoundus.blogspot.com/2010/11/great-golden-digger-wasp.html

I just watched one carry away a Monarch caterpillar. So …if you have a garden…these are going to become your best friends.  I’ve seen them flying around my milkweed plants while I was searching for caterpillars….and they never bother me…but I was surprised when one grabbed the caterpillar before I could get it and fly away with it.

They spend a lot of time on my Bottlebrush bushes. I believe they are nectar feeders but their young feed on insects that are paralyzed and put in nests in the ground. Some use existing holes but most of the ones I see are looking for places in the ground.

7 comments:

  1. Wow wish I could have seen that. Diane

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  2. I don't understand what you mean. The wasp took the Monarch caterpillar to paralyze it? And the wasp is going to become our best friends? I know you love the Monarch's so I'm obviously missing something. Color me confused! LOL!

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  3. Good for the garden, bad for the caterpillars.

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  4. Suzanne...If you have a vegetable garden...these wasps will help destroy a lot of the insects that destroy your crops. They arn't "my" best friends since they take the caterpillars I want to save.

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  5. Must have startled you when he grabbed the caterpillar. I don't like being around wasps though since I have an allergic reaction to their sting. This year we have seen very few in our area.

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  6. Wonderful photo, but I feel sorry for the caterpillar.

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  7. That is a tough haul for those small wings. I suspect the caterpillar didn't put up much of a fight if it was stung.

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