Parasite Wasps of London

Parasite Wasps of London: Two species of unusual wasps I encountered last month in the British capital. This first one seems to be a male ichneumonid wasp of some kind. These wasps are notorious for rearing their eggs inside living caterpillars.

This second one, on the other hand, is probably an Eumenid potter wasp. They are called "potter wasps" because these insects construct special mud nests for their offspring.

If you find one such nest and open it, however, you would only find a paralyzed insect or caterpillar inside. The actual larvae of potter wasps live inside these hapless victims, feeding on their torpid bodies like the xenomorphs from the Alien movies. Gross? Yes. Cool? You bet!