Art and all that stuff

▼

Tuesday, 12 November 2013

Compost heap killer...

Throwing dead flower heads onto the compost, Colin made an interesting observation. There were several large "wasp" like creatures devouring the rotten apples and pears.

We both watched them for a while and noticed they were going deep into the rotten fruit bodies.
Then the strangest sight... The "wasp" emerged with a blue-bottle in its grip and flew off purposefully towards the tall poplar trees...

We haven't witnessed this behaviour before and wonder if anyone can shed any light on these fascinating creatures. Our internet search and scouring through our books has revealed nothing as to its identity.
at

3 comments:

  1. Susan12 November 2013 at 18:28

    These are Yellow-legged Asian Hornets, an invasive alien. Watch where they go carefully. You may find they have a nest in the poplars, in which case you will have to call a professional to deal with it. I wrote about them here and link to the best information sheet about them here.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tim12 November 2013 at 19:30

    Great pix... very nasty subject!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Colin and Elizabeth13 November 2013 at 14:08

    Thanks Susan. We are unable to find a nest anywhere but zapped 18 this morning. The various people mentioned in you blog have been notified by email with photographs.

    ReplyDelete

We have been getting too many Spam Comments and as most of them are Anonymous we have disabled this facility.