Ruby-tailed wasps dazzle visitors
Many visitors have noticed a high number of ruby-tailed wasps sunny themselves on the chestnut fence rails this week. Even our centre manager Dave Fairlamb was praising the beauty of these dazzling solitary wasps on the handrails of our entry boardwalk.
These beautiful beasts do have an unsavoury side. The females often lay their eggs in the nest of solitary bees, especially mason bees. When the ruby-tailed wasps eggs hatch , they eat the other bees larvae. Ruby0tailed wasps can also be called 'cuckoo wasps'.
