Ichneumon or pimpla help please

[vikki-h]

Hi I'm new

In my garden i have a whole load of these every day(at least i think thats what they are) does anyone know how i can get rid of them, also i seem to have wasp's under ground, i have watched wasps dig a hole and go under the dry dirt, i have seen the wasps crawl out and cover the hole over, but in the morning the hole is there again. Are the two linked? My children and myself and husband would like to go in garden but there is just so many of them.

Any help or tips would be great.

[Geoff F]

It is difficult to give a clear answer here without photos; but, in general, there are a great many species of wasps and bees which nest underground.

Some, like bumblebees, have a queen inside the nest with attendant workers while others live a solitary lifestyle and dig individual nests for their offspring, often provided with prey for the larvae to feed upon.

Others, generally referred to as Cuckoo Bees/wasps just lay their eggs in the nests of other species.

And some species of wasps, etc, lay eggs directly onto the larvae of other species, which then live as parasites upon their host.

This is a fascinating subject but gets a bit too complicated to go into real details without more a more specific reference point.

But the main point is that they are all harmless to humans, unless you deliberately handle them. Virtually the only exception is the Common Wasp, and it's relatives, which can easily become aggressive if you annoy them. But even these usually prefer to leave you alone unless you do something which they interpret as a threat.

So to sum up; I would suggest trying to quietly get close to these insects and attempt to identify them, do a very rough sketch if you don't have a suitable camera, then ask again for more information on that species.

Once you stop being nervous about them you will be amazed by their behaviour.

[vikki-h]

Hi Geoff F

Thank you for reply, i have been watching them, the wasp i actually think is a queen bee, it is not striped like the typical one but mostly golden in colour, the hole is usually covered over by around 5pm and open again around 7am, i have watched what i think is the queen crawling around the grass near the hole the she goes back inside.

The other insects what i think are Ichneumon look abit like daddy long-legs except thay have red/orange legs and to long antena that slightly curl at the end, unfortunatly they are not around today i have been trying to get a good enough picture so people know what i'm talking about, hopefully when it gets sunny here(suffolk) they will be back and i will get a picture and upload it. They do seem to like the longer grass in my garden though and i have seen some ladybirds with wierd growths on them so i assume the ladbird is the host for these insects.

Thanks

[vikki-h]

Hi

I now have a few photo's of the insect if anyone would like to view it and thinks they can help me then please email me (victoria_havard@yahoo.co.uk) and i will share my photo with you, was not sure how to upload them on here but if any one wants to tell me then i'll happily upload them for everyone to see.

Hope to hear from someone soon

[JRsbugs]

To upload pics go to the 'Images' link at the top, then choose 'upload photos'.

There you can place the pics in a category using a drop down box, choose 'unidentified insects'.

You can upload several pics at a time, using the same title or you can add different titles when you get to the preview stage. By putting the details such as date in the bottom box you will get the same details for all pics if done before the preview.

If you upload only one pic make sure you have all details correct first as it will go straight into the category, you can't change it once done.

There is a size limit of just over 1MB for each pic, if you exceed that it won't take it. If you have one amongst several pics which is too big, you can go back to the upload page and skip the upload process to upload files already in the queue. If you need to do that you will have to choose the category etc. again before uploading.

Once the pics are uploaded, to retrieve them all you need to do is click on the icon on the right side of the box where you type your post. A single click on each image will place them in a side by side row, maximum 5 images or the page will be too wide. Make sure you have the flashing indicator below your typing or you can split the code making the pic unable to enlarge.

You can then use the 'preview' button to see how your post looks and make any changes before posting.

Good luck!

Janet

[Geoff F]

Firstly, a couple of additional points to Janet's instructions on uploading photos. Initially, uploading photos to this site can appear complicated but it is quite easy if you follow the instructions.

I select the Gallery tab first, then click Upload Photos and use the Blue Section; there are easy to follow instructions there.

As for size etc, I usually size my images to around 800 pixels wide at 96 pixels per inch and Jpeg format; 90% compression works well. But this isn't a strict size requirement although, as Janet said, it must be below 1 mb.

With regard to your descriptions. Offhand I would suggest having a look at Bombus pascuorum or Andrena fulva (Tawny Mining Bee) for the bee.

The small wasp like insects do sound interesting but there are several possibilities to consider. There are Digger Wasps from the Sphecidae family and quite a number of other Solitary Wasps.

But that curly tip to the antennae and leg description make me wonder about one of the Spider Hunting Wasps (Pompilidae family) which catch spiders as food for their larvae. Possibly one of the Priocnemis species.

However, they are all fast moving and difficult to photograph.