When I checked the jars on my kitchen window sill yesterday morning, I discovered the Aleiodes wasp I blogged about last week had hatched (Aleiodes mummy wasp, 28 August). And here she is …
The photo above was taken through the glass of its jar so apologies that it’s not very sharp, but you can see she’s a female by the presence of the sharp ovipositor poking out the bottom of her body. And a reminder, below, of how small the cocoon was: approximately 7mm long, so I would guess the wasp was around 6mm.
Finally, the image on the left below (also not very clear) shows the small circular dark hole on the underside of the cocoon where the tiny wasp had chewed her way out into the world. And, on the right, the wasp sitting, very briefly, on the outside of the jar before she flew off to begin her life in the wild.
