BUGS FOR THE AMATEUR
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| Stenogastrinae: Eustenogaster nigra Saito & Nguyen, 2006 |
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Sai Kung Country Park, 2005.
This is a rather elusive species in HK, although relatively abundant in forested areas.
It is a new record for Hong Kong but also to science, having been formaly described only in September 2006
Tai Po Kau Forest, August 2006. A nest of the same species. The nest envelop is an extension of the peripheral cells. Note the strange horn like extensions on the top of the nest and the analogous shape of the entrance vestibule, also with "windows". The substrate to which the nest is fixed is smeared with a gelatinous substance by the wasp, possibly as an ant guard.
An open nest showing the brood content. The larvae are coiled around the long axis of the cell, which is un-usual for Vespidae, but the norm in the sub-family Stenogastrinae.
