James, your photo is of a native spider wasp Cryptocheilus bicolour, which I?ve
seen several times in Canberra dragging Huntsman spiders back to their nests
which are underground, I believe.
The wasps that build those beautiful little mud ?pitchers? or cocoons on walls
and doors of houses are mud wasps ? they, too, paralyse spiders and insects and
put them in their nests for their young. Mud wasps are not dangerous.
Regards
Frank Antram
-----Original message-----
From: James Rolevink
Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2006 21:30:40 +1100
To: ""
Subject: Non-birding question (RE wasps & spiders)
> My suspicion is that the spiders lost big time, like this huntsman I snappe> d
> which was captured by an Australian Native (at least I think it¹s Australia> n
> Native):
>
>
>
> on 14/1/06 6:19 PM, Yarden Oren at wrote:
>
> > While on a non birding trend, could someone confirm the following suspici>
> > on. A
> > wasp has built tight mud cocoons stuck to the brick wall outside our door>
> > . I
> > knocked down the first ones as we didn't want the wasps hanging around th>
> > ere
> > and the cocoons were empty. A fed days later another set was built. When > I
> > demolished them, each contained about half a dozen spiders. The spiders w>
> > ere
> > fresh and plump (paralysed I presume and intended to be fresh food to lar>
> > vae
> > already laid or about to be laid in them). Am I correct? Any more interes>
> > ting
> > local natural history regarding the phenomenon?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Yarden
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Geoffrey Dabb
> >> Sent: Tuesday, 10 January 2006 11:07 AM
> >> To:
> >> Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Non-birding question (RE caterpillar)
> >>
> >>
> >> Memories of the Emperor Gum moths of one's childhood come flooding back> .
> >> Oddly, we found them mainly on the introduced Peppercorn Trees, now suc>
> >> h a
> >> feature of the rural landscape.
> >>
> >>>
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