UPDATE 12:21 p.m The mystery of what today’s bug of the week is has been solved. Many people recognized the strange creature as a wasp. According to the University of Minnesota Department of Entomology, wasps “are delicate, slender insects that are little more than an inch long. With their yellow and brown stripes, triangle-shaped heads and prehensile (grasping) front legs, they look like a cross between a praying mantis and a paper wasp. However, despite their appearance and name, they are neither a wasp nor a mantis. “Larvae are parasitic spiders. Adult females lay single eggs on the tips of short silky petioles on the underside of leaves (up to several thousand). The eggs hatch and each tiny larva awaits a passing spider. The larva easily boards a passing spider, where it rides, surviving on the spider’s blood until the spider lays an egg sac. The tiny larva crawls off the spider and into the sac as the eggs are laid. Once safely inside the completed egg sac, the larva will feast on the spider’s eggs until it pupates. A single wasp develops inside the egg sac. “These insects are found in the US, north to Canada and south to Mexico. Adults emerge in late spring and inhabit lightly wooded areas with open edges and are usually found in vegetation and flowers. Males are short-lived and usually found only in the spring. Females live longer and can be found later in the summer.” ORIGINAL 4 am Today’s bug of the week is a strange client. It is also a mystery as to what it is. “Found this strange bug in West Kelowna. It looks like a wasp mixed with a praying mantis,” said Wesley Schnitzler. Schnitzler took a picture of the beast, which has wings and a body like a wasp, but also has long front legs that appear to be used to grab prey, sort of like a praying mantis. The question is: is this a real insect, and what kind? Or is it two insects and the angle of the picture makes it look like one? What do you think; Email your thoughts [email protected].
