Paul Leyland – Ruby-tailed Wasp

Social Distancing Week 14. Ruby-tailed Wasp.

Paul writes: sometimes being confined to the garden to watch insects isn’t a hardship. I’ve been joyfully following these beautiful wasps for the past week and they should be around until the end of July. Ruby-tailed Wasps are one of the most colourful insects you are likely to see. Unfortunately this picture only shows the dramatic turquoise blue head and thorax but I can assure you that the ruby-red tail is equally as dramatic. I have seen these wasps around the bee hotel in my garden for the past few years. They are one of my favourite insects, so much so that this is the second article I’ve written for Mark about them – see here.

Ruby-tailed Wasps parasitize the nests of solitary bees and wasps. I have been noticing several Red Mason Bees using the bee hotel recently and I think the wasp has targeted these. When it first landed on the hotel the wasp scurried around examining the various holes, then disappeared into one. After a while it came out backwards then turned around and entered tail first. I managed to get a photo just as it re-emerged. I think the wasp’s first entry was to check if a bee had built a suitable cell, then the second was to pierce a hole in the cell wall with its ovipositor and lay an egg inside. Once the larva hatches it will consume the host larva and any stored food and wait until next year to emerge as an adult. I hope this means I’ll be able to watch them again next year.

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