A story that started in 2008 with a shot of a mating bundle of chalcid wasps and ended this year with a shot of the wasp ovipositing into an aquilegia seed pod.
Brian V.
Mating bundle of chalcid wasps on aquilegia flower taken in 2008
2010
Small flies mating on aquilegia taken in 2007
Small fly ovipositing on aquilegia 2014. I also had a shot of the chalcid wasps which a flickr expert told me were host and parasitoid. The fly is Phytomyza krygeri and the chalcid wasp Seladerma simplex
At last this year a shot of the chalcid wasp ovipositing into the developing seed pod of aquilegia.
The end of a saga
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
The end of a saga
www.flickr.com/photos/lordv
canon20D,350D,40D,5Dmk2, sigma 105mm EX, Tamron 90mm, canon MPE-65
canon20D,350D,40D,5Dmk2, sigma 105mm EX, Tamron 90mm, canon MPE-65
Thanks Chris. It was great to find out what the wasps were doing on the flowerChrisR wrote:Cool sequence!
Brian V.
www.flickr.com/photos/lordv
canon20D,350D,40D,5Dmk2, sigma 105mm EX, Tamron 90mm, canon MPE-65
canon20D,350D,40D,5Dmk2, sigma 105mm EX, Tamron 90mm, canon MPE-65
Interesting.
Thanks for posting.
Thanks for posting.
Troels Holm, biologist (retired), environmentalist, amateur photographer.
Visit my Flickr albums
Visit my Flickr albums
Rudi wrote:Now, thats a long story Brian....Your patience has been rewarded. Very difficult to capture these little buggers, they never seem to stop... !!
All great shots, with the last one being my favourite....
Troels wrote:Interesting.
Thanks for posting.
JH wrote:I really enjoyed this series of pictures.
/Jörgen
Thanks all for the comments - glad you enjoyed the story.razashaikh wrote:Amazing!
Brian V.
www.flickr.com/photos/lordv
canon20D,350D,40D,5Dmk2, sigma 105mm EX, Tamron 90mm, canon MPE-65
canon20D,350D,40D,5Dmk2, sigma 105mm EX, Tamron 90mm, canon MPE-65
The fly lays it's egg in the flower, the fly larva starts eating the developing seeds in the seed pod then the chalcid wasp Seladerma lays it's egg into the fly larva or pupa which is then consumed by the wasp larva.ldflan wrote:Very nice. But I am confused. Does the seladerma create a gall on ovipositing on the plant? Or is it a parasitoid of the fly? What's the life cycle?
Brian V.
www.flickr.com/photos/lordv
canon20D,350D,40D,5Dmk2, sigma 105mm EX, Tamron 90mm, canon MPE-65
canon20D,350D,40D,5Dmk2, sigma 105mm EX, Tamron 90mm, canon MPE-65