Found this half-grown speckled bush cricket in the back garden today.
Now here’s an interesting thing. I found this beastie, that looks like a predatory wasp, on the outside windowsill of the conservatory. It appears to have caught a green shieldbug nymph and carried it to the windowsill, but then it just sat there looking at it. I expected to see it laying eggs in or on the nymph, or if not that then simply eating it, but it didn’t seem to be doing anything. They stayed in that pose for some while, enough time for me to take several photos, then when I went back inside I left them in the same position.
I took it to Twitter to find out what was going on and received the full gamut of replies along the lines of, “Maybe it was just too heavy,” “Looks like he’s giving it a hug” and stuff. All of which had occurred to me as it happens. Thanks to Matt Berry though, who identified the wasp as Astata boops and stated, “That shieldbug is paralysed and ready to be used for laying the wasps eggs inside.”
JoeBeeDazzled inquired, “She has to carry it home doesn't she before laying eggs?” to which Matt replied, “Yep, hence the long legs she has for carrying such a chunky payload! Not sure why she’s stopped en route though. Question is, did she continue afterwards or abandon the nymph?”
As it happens, when I came back out, both wasp and nymph had gone, s I presume she hefted it away to her chosen destination. I assume, by the way, that ‘boops’ has two syllables, like the Co-op, rather than a single like Betty Boop.
It turns out that they specialise in predating on half-grown shieldbug nymphs, especially green shieldbugs, and there are loads of photos online almost identical to mine.
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