Very, Very Large Wasp, Pt. 4 - _TNY_5289

August of 2023 was very rainy which combined with the need to work in the garden taking care of about forty trees which we have had felled, led to very little bug photography.

But one day, an opportunity appeared that was way to good to ignore. My mother-in-law found this female giant woodwasp (Urocerus gigas), also known as the banded horntail and greater horntail, was laying her eggs in one of the chopped down pines on the ground.

Apart from being absolutely huge - up to 40 mm (1.6") they also have a really intersting life cycle. The female drills down her ovipositor into the wood. She then lay five or six eggs into the log, but that is not all. She also grafts a fungus known as the bleeding conifer crust (Stereum sanguinolentum) into the tree. The larvae will stay inside the wood for two years and the fungus will constitute the main source of food for it.

The larvae gnaw long tunnels inside the wood and pack them with a finely chewed wood powder behind them. This makes it difficult to discover that they are present in the wood and as a result, sometimes people have used the wood to build their new house and then suddeny finished giant wasps come out through the wallpaper!

This species is becoming rarer and rarer, but it is comparatively common in the province of Ångermanland where this was taken - it is actually the provincial insect of Ångermanland.

Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53105658243/

Part 2 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53245266887/

Part 3 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53513049089/

Also, two close portraits of this (not so) little lady here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53134988290/

and here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53415243557/

Taken in: Sweden / Västernorrland / Hanaberg (show map)

Taken on: August 9, 2023

Tags:

macro

Canon

CanonEOS5Ds

5Ds

flash

Godox

Thinklite

TT685C

plåtdiffusor v7

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

Urocerus

gigas

insect

black

yellow

black eyes

compound eyes

Siricinae

hornstekel

stor hornstekel

Siricidae

vedstekel

Siricoidea

växtstekel

Symphyta

Hymenoptera

stekel

horntail

sawfly

pine

Holzwespe

Riesenholzwespe

Pflanzenwespe

Wespe

woodwasp

giant woodwasp

banded horntail

giant horntail

greater horntail

gul hornstekel

egg laying

laying eggs

f/11 « less

Sets appears in: • Wasps

Groups appears in: • Frame It! ~Level 01~ (P1/A5) • Canon EOS 5D Mark III + Mark IV + 5DS - 5DS R (TR). more » • Flickr Social • Canon EOS 5DS and 5DS R Users • !Flickr Macro « less

Camera: Canon EOS 5DS, f/11.0, 1/180 sec, 100mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5DS
Lens:	EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.006 sec (1/180)
Focal Length:	100mm
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	On, Fired
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 23.3 (Windows)
Show full info

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