ephialtes manifestator, pt. 2

remember that strange insect that i wrote about last october?
well, i found some more of those ichneumon wasps, a few days later – and this time, i also did video! it took me a little longer to actually get it done, but here it is…

thanks to frau notanativa for introducing me to the music!
oh, and …believe me or not: i didn’t add the drilling machine noise. somebody nearby started drilling just that exact moment!
 

[view photos: ephialtes manifestator, pt. 2]

things you might want to pay attention to:

  • in the beginning, she (must be a female, because she’s laying eggs…) is sniffling around, like a dog that’s following a track. just that in this case, the “track” is the smell of a fungus, as mentioned in the previous post.
  • even after “setting up the borer”, she keeps checking (smelling) to find the right position.
  • at 00:24 seconds, you can see her bend away the protection cover, revealing the actual (extremely thin) ovipositor
  • right afterwards, she starts to rotate, to ease the process of drilling into the wood.

2 thoughts on “ephialtes manifestator, pt. 2

  1. Hello!! Really that insect it´s very strange.. One question: Could you send the name of the music to my e-mail??? Thanks!

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