[AJames]

Ever seen either a Blue (or Black) Flower Wasp" or "Blue Ant"?
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.

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/re...ssage=26677543 and

http://gvcocks.homeip.net/Hymenopter...olia_soror.htm

Creepy!!