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Mantis Parasitic Wasp (Podagrion sp.)

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Description

This tiny wasp is only 3-4mm at most. I almost ignored it! Anyway, it looked pretty happy to find a fresh mantis ootheca  :) 
Taken at night in Singapore.

Quote from www.ozanimals.com/Insect/Manti…
This tiny wasp lays its eggs in the egg case (ootheca) of the Mantis. It has metallic blue/green head and thorax. The abdomen is brown. The rear legs are strong and toothed and used to clasp onto the wings of a female mantis. The wasp is transported around by the mantis until the mantis makes her egg case. The wasp can then deposit her eggs into the fresh frothy mantis ootheca before it hardens.

The female lays pushes here ovipositor (spike at rear) into the mantis ootheca and lays her eggs. The larvae hatch and eat the mantis eggs. The young wasps emerge from the ootheca.
Image size
960x640px 433.13 KB
Make
Canon
Model
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Shutter Speed
1/160 second
Aperture
F/16.0
Focal Length
100 mm
ISO Speed
160
Date Taken
Jul 25, 2014, 11:08:53 PM
Sensor Size
6mm
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Comments4
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Octoboy-the-8th's avatar
Those eyes... She seems hardly able to believe her luck finding a mantis egg case! Lucky she managed to draw your attention, that is quite the pretty parasite.