30 September 2003

A Mystery Insect

The children saw this insect the other day and noticed the long stinger at the end. Being wary of insects that might bite (i.e. most of Georgia) they quickly called both of us to investigate. It is very brightly coloured and did not move whilst we were there taking photographs from about 10 cm (4 inches) away. My initial sources have been unable to tell me what it is. One thought was that it was a “Mud Dauber” wasp which builds cool mud cocoon type nests and whose main role in life is to eat Black Widow and Brown Recluse spiders (both poisonous). That would be nice to have, but the pictures don’t match. We’ll continue to investigate.

What is this insect?

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