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4 Comments

Alan said:

Lovely photo Dave, one that would grace any entomology book! Be careful if you try to pick up one of these. It will curl its "tail" round and inject you!; nothing like as painful as a normal wasp sting, but it will itch and leave a small dark spot! Can I be horribly pedantic and say that in fact it isn't really a fly in the true sense (which would only have one pair of wings) but a wasp, as characterised by the two pairs of wings and the thin waist? It's a member of the family of Ichneumon wasps which are parasites of other insects. This particular species injects its eggs into the caterpillars of larger moths - I won't go into details of what happens next but it surpasses any horror story! It doesn't have a user-friendly name, only a Latin one which is Ophion, probably Ophion luteus. Some folk call it the Yellow Ophion which strikes me as being rather ridiculous for obvious reasons! Sorry, I seem to have got rather carried away with it all; the entomology lecture ends here! A case of little things pleasing little minds I guess!

funkypancake Author Profile Page said:

wow. we've got a few of them in our house. i'll go and bash them when i get home !

michelle Author Profile Page said:

is alan an entomology expert?

Alan said:

Hmm Michelle, I don't know if "expert" is an appropriate word, but I'm certainly an enthusiastic amateur! In fact I find the whole natural world fascinating and full of interest, from the largest tree to the weeniest insect; they are all miracles of creation. I suppose I'm especially interested in insects largely because I spent my boyhood days in the fields and woods catching butterflies and moths and other bugs and trying to identify them; later on I was lucky enough to get a job in the entomology department at Imperial College. Sadly that's just a fond memory now but I've never lost the interest and Dave's insect pics are just the excuse I need to take a virtual trip into the green and leafy countryside for a few happy minutes!

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