Delta pyriforme (banana weevil borer in UK)

Family eumenidae

With a slender body type, the Delta pyriforme (banana weevil borer) has yellow fringes behind compound eyes, a red-brown chest, a bright yellow front edge of the chest-back, an abdomen with the hind part yellow and brown fore part with black stripes, red-brown legs, and black spots on the front and rear ends of hind legs’ femora and tibia. This species belongs to parasitic wasps, living in low altitude mountain areas. The female wasp will pick water from water logged ground to soft sandy ground and stir them into mud balls with its mouthpart, and then mouth hold them, flying away to walls or woods to make its nest. The nest is shaped like a wine bottle. After finishing making its nest, the female wasp will capture the larvae of Lepidoptera insects and take tem to the nest. Before sealing the nest mouth with mud balls, it lays eggs. After the larvae are hatched, they live on the prey.

　　Photographed by Shih Po-han