juan_sphex's Favourites

Observed numerous Weevil Wasps (Genus Cerceris) flying around and entering one of the 30 tunnel nests that were in a 10 by 12 foot area of aggregate soil. As the first two photos show, they were bringing beetles for their larvae in the nests. The next two photos show a couple of the tunnels. These wasps also seemed to feed on California Buckwheat as shown in the last photo.

"A nest consists of a central tunnel off of which the wasp creates chambers. The females are known to provision with beetles such as Scarabaeidae, Cerambycidae, Tenebrionidae, Buprestidae, and Chrysomelidae.
In each chamber she places a beetle that she has paralyzed with her stinger. Then she lays an egg on it and closes the chamber. When all cells are thus filled, she closes the tunnel and then dies, leaving the eggs to hatch the following spring.
Larvae emerge from the eggs eat the paralyzed insect prey, and cocoon underground during the winter season. In spring, adult wasps emerge from their pupal cases and dig their way up and out of the tunnel."

Interest : small parasitoid wasp (3-4 mm)
Appeared at the end of the fight when the Pompilidae was cutting the spider's legs, yet paralyzed.
Looks like it tried to lay its eggs in the prey of the Pompilidae!

The spider : https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/136259602

The predatory wasp : https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/136259603