Wasps
The word wasp is most likely in invoke images of the black and yellow scourges of many a picnic, but there are more than 7000 species in the UK. The vast majority of these are unobstrusive parasitic species, difficult to find and even trickier to identify successfully. These pages focus on the more accessible species, which include a range of solitary species as well as the familiar social wasps.
The social species construct elaborate paper nests within which to rear their young, whilst the potter wasps create smaller structures. Simpler still are the burrows of the solitary wasps, which are provisioned with an unfortunate prey item upon which the wasp larva feed once they have hatched. In some cases these larva may themselves fall victim to the larva of a parasitic species, such as the dazzling ruby-tailed wasps which must rank amongst the most attractive of all British species.
Mellinus arvensis
Bee-wolf - Philanthus triangulum
Tiphia femorata
Spider-hunting Wasps