Wasps - Laura Gillis

I think there is a line in a John Wayne movie where it is said that everything in Texas would either “bite ‘ya, sting ‘ya or stick ‘ya.” (Or it could have been Henry Fonda or Jimmy Stewart that said that -- I don’t remember now.) Well, here are a couple of those things that might sting ‘ya...


First is the Scolid Wasp. This pretty black and brown wasp has a furry abdomen and the darkest black body and wings. She is a regular sized wasp (not quite an inch long).


This other brown wasp is quite a bit bigger (well over an inch if she wasn’t curled up). I think this is a Paper Wasp Polistes carolinus but I am not totally sure. I found her lying by the water faucet one day, dead as a door nail as they say. We do have lots of wasps around here and I think I will start paying more attention to them.

Ink & watercolor in the Moleskine Watercolor Journal