Anyone into bees/wasps/hornets?

[vespa_bicolor]

Hi all,

this is my first time in the insect forum, and just wondering if anyone is interested in bees and wasps in general, and particularly social wasps?

Some of my better photos below, just thought I'd share. Share some of yours if you have any good shots too, I have never seen any of the New World/European species except those that are repeatedly shown in books

Thanks!.

 

[ghost_tomb]

WOW nice pic's.

I've always thought wasps to be an interesting species and facinating in their own right.What kind of wasp is that on your finger?

 

[genious_gr]

Do you keep wasps as pets or just examine them in the wild??

I also think they'd be great to watch but I'm not sure if they can be kept in a tank.

So, if you do keep them please share tank pics, feeding ways, what they eat etc etc

 

[vespa_bicolor]

ghost_tomb >> Thanks! That's a Vespa tropica, or greater banded hornet. One of the bigger social wasp species in Asia.

genious_gr: I usually obseve them in the wild, or hold them temporarily for better shots. They can be kept in captivity, in fact their lifespan in captivity in my experience is quite long compared to in the wild. All wasps and bees will be contented to eat just honey. But I don't usually keep social wasps often, since the colony will be lacking them (just my own belief). I sometimes keep solitary wasps and bees, in relatively very big cages or tanks. Here in Hong Kong we can sometimes buy a special large wire cage used for grasshoppers, or else the custom-made cages for chameleons or similar things will do. Substrate can be anything that is non toxic. All I use besides the main substrate is a pile of sphagnum, which they will sometimes hide in, and a feeding dish, which I use a brightly coloured plastic dish (they will learn to approach the area for food). I use pure honey to feed them, about twice a day, just a small drop each time.

 

[genious_gr]

I see, thanks a lot for the info

 

[vespa_bicolor]

No problem!

 

[Jesse607]

I have always been very interested in the Vespidae. I especially like the Vespa, Dolichovespula, Vespula rufa group, and the native Polistes(fuscatus and metricus) to my area. The only Vespa we have here in the U.S. is the introduced Vespa crabro(of European origin), and I have only ever found one mature nest, but I see foragers every year. It must be nice living in an area with several Vespa species. Before I moved away from home to go to college, I constructed Polistes observatory nest boxes, in which the wasps would nest without my manipulation. They were very interesting to watch!

 

[vespa_bicolor]

Oh... care to share the way to make those observation boxes ? I always wanted to make something like that to encourage them to nest in a way I can observe, especially since I live in a rural area, and since the huge Polistes gigas are found near my place!
I'm wondering too how big are the biggest Polistes found in the U.S. Here I can find lots of Vespa, as well as some Polistes, but very little Vespula/Dolichovespula. Only recently did I find what I was told is Vespula flaviceps here, and even then it's not common.

Thanks!

 

[spider]

Found this while I was in the Canoe at work.


And as you can see, The water was up farely high!

 

[vespa_bicolor]

Oh...nice!

What kind of wasps made that anyway?

 

[Jesse607]

That is a colony of Polistes annularis, the largest Polistes of North America, they also make very large nests.

Basicly if you have cavity nesting wasps(polistes) they will nest in a wooden box with a slit in the front. I had plexiglass on the back that I could look through, which when I was not observing them was covered by a wooden door that had a latch to keep it shut. I hope that gives you some idea of what it looked like.