Yellowjacket mandibles

[Charles Krebs]

Eating dinner out back tonight, I set a place with some scraps for my little yellow friends. I watched them come and go, quickly cutting a suitable size piece of meat with their powerful jaws, and then flying off with it.

When I took the Yellowjacket "portrait" shot posted a few days ago, I also did a very close shot of the mandibles. So after watching their "cutting" performance tonight I took another look at that image.

Nikon D200, Minolta 12.5mm bellows lens. Stacked with Helicon Focus.

[rjlittlefield]

Delightful, simply delightful! Keep 'em coming!

I got stung by one of these things today. It seems she objected to my throwing more stuff on the compost pile twice, too close together. I don't care. They're still among my favorite critters to watch.

By the way, it's an interesting experiment to mark some of these gals by daubing a bit of paint on their backs so you can recognize individuals (no, it doesn't even hurt them!), then keep track of the visits. Shooting video helps. The last time I did that, it turned out that the "cycle time" was something like 2-1/2 minutes per trip, to cut off a chunk of meat, take it to the nest (which I never did find), and come back for more. Industrious little fellas!

--Rik

[Wim van Egmond]

I realy love these images, Charlie! Did you already try the other side of the wasp and photograph the sting?

I have seen wasps cutting wood with these jaws, formidable beasties!

I wonder how many lenses you have, each time you use another type!

Wim

[beetleman]

Incredible photo again Charles. The serrated edges look like the Ginsu Knives I bought off the TV. They look like they are designed very well for what they do.

[Carl_Constantine]

That's just a little toooooo close for comfort. I'm absolutley petrified of wasps. Bumble bees are fine, but the agressive species, I stay away from like the plague. I say that, and here I am with a deep interest in macro photography.

I suppose I'll have to get over my fear (and I haven't been too bad lately I might add). There was a time when a wasp would arrive at our picnic, and I would leave. I'm not allergic or anything, just scared of the beasties.

All that said, awesome shot, both this one and the portrait. It reminds me of the images Mark Plonsky produces http://www.mplonsky.com/photo/.

I really have to invest in Helicon focus.