Friday, June 12, 2009

Ground Beetle & Cuckoo Wasp


Some more bugs in the journal....  a big honkin' ground beetle and a little cuckoo wasp.

Ink & watercolor in the bug journal. 

6 comments:

  1. I'd never heard of a cuckoo wasp, Laura! Can you tell us any more about them? This is just beautifully done...I feel as if I'd recognize one if I saw it!

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  2. Cuckoo wasps are just beautiful aren't they? we have the prettiest jewel coloured ones here :) iridescent!

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  3. Very nice! Are these insects what you see in your garden?

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  4. I had never heard about a cuckoo wasp either so I was pretty excited about this one... I have probably been calling them sweat bees all this time not realizing they are different. (I have really learned a lot with these sketches!) Anyway, the cuckoo wasps are usually green or blue metallic and are heavily armored (it really was a chore getting the pin through this one). They are mostly parasites in the nests of other wasps or bees though one species is a parasite of walkingstick eggs. I would love to find a blue one to put next to this one in the book!

    Most of these insects are from my yard and garden. Every once in a while I will get an exotic one from Ft Worth (from my sister) and I have friends who will sometimes save bugs for me. Those are GOOD friends, eh?

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  5. I found a blue one once... probably have photos somewhere lol. Keep looking!!

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  6. I think I have a picture of it. Am posting it on BugGuide.net......will find out and post.

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