Blue Flower Wasp / Blue Ant

[AJames]

Ever seen either a Blue (or Black) Flower Wasp" or "Blue Ant"? :eyepop:
I went to the washing line to take in the washing, and I found one crawling about the leaf litter in the garden bed. The non-aggressive beasty was about 45 or 50 mm long, and digging into the garden refuse, and into the ground looking for noisy crickets or beetles to lay their legs.
What was really amazing was the bright shiny metallic iridescent wings.
Never seen one before, and it is apparently an Australian insect that pollinates native flowers. It is known as the Blue Flower Wasp, Scolia sp., Family Scolii.
According to http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/flower_wasps.htm
the females, although having wings, can't fly. Apparently, the males carry the females by flying them to flowers - extraordinary considering the physical size of the insect.
The CSIRO Site http://www.csiro.au/resources/ps1xb.html says,
"The female has a very painful sting, but as blue ants are not common, they are not considered a problem species. They will only sting if disturbed, so should be avoided. If stung, an ice pack applied to the sting will help relieve the pain."

I kept away from it. :eyepop:

Has anyone ever seen one of these, and if so, how common are they?

Anyone ever taken a picture?

Note: An image of one appears as the top photograph in the site given above.
Also at; http://flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/2208863802/
and two excellent pages at;
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=26677543 and

http://gvcocks.homeip.net/Hymenoptera/Scoliidae/scolia_soror.htm

Creepy!! :scared:

[[1ponders]]

While I haven't seen the particular wasp you are talking about, wingless female wasps are not uncommon in Australia, particularly in deserts.

An interesting side note is that many Australian terrestrial orchid mimic these female wasps to fool the males into mating with them so that pollen is deposited onto the male wasps abdomen which is then transported to another flower. A common local wasp that does this is the Ichneuman (?) wasp ( the little red one with the black wings that flys around you couch lawn laying their eggs into lawn grub/ army worm). The orchid that this wasp tries to pseudo-copulate with is Pteristylis subulata and Pteristylis erecta.

Another interesting point about these wasps is that when the male picks the female up they start to mate inflight, and when the male finds a flower and starts to feed on the nectar the female receives the nectar through the male and doesn't actually feed herself.

An excellent old video that shows this (if you can get your hands on it) is "Sexual encounters of the floral kind" an old BBC video that is fascinating to watch and not just for the orchid info.

[ballaratdragons]

Yep, Even though they are seldom seen, I have them here on my property regularly.

They are a beautiful metallic blue, and quite large.

They have also been known by the name 'Lone Ant' as you will only ever see one at a time. It is the male that looks like a giant blue ant :thumbsup:

[vash]

I have seen the blue wasp before, but when I went and got my camera it was gone, thought, oh well, I'm sure it will come back again, haven't seen it since though, I'll keep a look out though

[AJames]

Damn! That is EXACTLY what happened to me! (Something I did not want to admit. Shame!) I think it may have gone underground, and I waited about ten minutes and went outside a few times to see if it was there again. It is probably something that makes it elusive.
Looking at the images at
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=26677543
is probably our best bet...

As for the rich blue colour, it reminds me of the blue background of the Australian Flag! :)

Huuuummmm.... Another thought, pity it is not named after a southern constellation with lots of blue stars. (Perhaps we could replace the Apus - a commonplace bee?) With the weather here in the last few weeks here on the eastern coast of Australia, seeing the stars is probably as elusive as this big Aussie Insect!! :D

Andrew

[skairey]

Hi Andrew,
I have plenty of them up my way, they are beautiful but a bit menacing when in a bunch. They often forage in and out of my mulch and leaf litter.
I have some photo's I'll try and download them, don't hold your breathe too long though, I'm not very good nor quick at working out how to download things, but I'll do my best.
They hang around my cinnamon wattle and cherry tree's mostly, and they are very quick.

[xflibble]

I think this is a female? Snapped it walking the Two Bays walk on Mornington Peninsula...

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/32iQHygh_Q0f-X2xL9XVZA?feat=directlink

Jared

[Enchilada]

Jarad,
It does look like a female Blue Ant to me.

I wonder if any of the Aboriginal peoples have any legends about these amazing iridescent coloured blue ants. I also think it is funny that none of the zoological nature programs or even naturalists on these creatures - never seen anything that hints at it!
Again I am amazed that the smaller males can actually carry the weightier females and deposit them on flowers and the like.
Thanks for the interesting pic! :thumbsup:

[xflibble]

I showed my Dad the picture, and he recounted his childhood story of being stung by one, at Shoreham on the peninsula. So maybe there are plenty around there.

He also said he's seen them in his garden in Kilmore, in the bushy area near the golf course.

Thanks for all the useful links here :)

[dpastern]

I haven't seen one personally, but I have seen images of one.

Most insects do not hang around for you to take a photo. You have to be quick, and know how to approach them. Knowing about the species also helps stalking them. I have a few pages on my website about imaging insects & arachnids. I've probably got 20-30k images under my belt over the past 3 years...

Dave

[apaulo]

Hi guys
I stood on one and it bloody well hurts :eyepop:. It is a female flower wasp, they cant fly but what they lack in flight they make up in venom.

Hoping mad apaulo. :P

[el_draco]

Reminds me of someone I was married to once... :rolleyes:



Wish I did... :screwy:

[el_draco]

I see you've met her as well...:D

[DavidU]

I use to see them as a kid in suburban melb, we new them as blue bottles.

[bloodhound31]

I got one a few weeks ago. You don't want a sting from one.

http://barryarmsteadphotography.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=107666972

Baz.