Wasps Are Our Friends: Part I
I’ve had about enough of people unfairly picking on wasps, so I’m fighting back with a series of photographs showing the bright side of these fascinating insects.
By Alex Wild
This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
I've had about enough of people unfairly picking on wasps, so I'm fighting back with a series of photographs showing the bright side of these fascinating insects.
Comperia merceti is only a couple millimeters long, but it has an outsized effect on cockroaches. Young wasps of this species develop inside cockroaches' hardened egg cases, consuming the eggs. Like the vast majority of wasps, Comperia is not aggressive and does not sting.
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photo details:
Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x lens on a Canon 20D
ISO 100, f/11, 1/200 sec
diffuse off-camera flash
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