Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Time For Some Wasps?

Isodontia elegans. iNaturalist doesn’t use a common name for this species, but elsewhere it’s Elegant Grass-carrying Wasp..
Confoundingly difficult to get photos of this one. Common Blue Mud-dauber Wasp (Chalybion californicum).
Trypoxylon genus square-headed wasp. A spider-hunter, perhaps?
Distinctive enough: Four-toothed Mason Wasp (Monobia quadridens).
Common Hover Fly Parasitoid Wasp (Diplazon laetatorius) probably looking for hoverfly larvae.
Whoa! Two different Guinea Paper Wasps (Polistes exclamans). First I’ve seen these, and the first iNaturalist record in Brooklyn. They’re evidently moving their way up north as the world burns. They’re already recorded further out on Long Island and north of the city in Westchester Co.


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mthew

5 responses to “Time For Some Wasps?”

  1. Colin Purrington

    I hadn’t realized there was a common name for Isodontia elegans. Definitely going to start using it.

    Reply
    1. mthew

      I don’t remember where I picked that up originally, but I got Heather Holm’s Wasps, A Guide for Eastern North America, in the mail today, and she uses it.

      Reply
  2. elwnyc

    Love these. May I add the photos to my own personal wasp field guide*? I think I only have a couple of these already.

    *a file in my pictures with wasp photos, names, and if available, information

    Reply
    1. mthew

      Certainly. See also Heather Holm’s new book on wasps for ID and natural history info https://www.pollinationpress.com/store/p17/wasps.html

      Reply
  3. Monica M

    Wasps are so interesting! I enjoy watching them build their “nurseries”, on the siding of my house.

    Reply

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